Go The Distance
by beatricetrispriors
Summary: Traveling through time and space for a majority of her life, Mira Swan is certain of two things: a) her birth parents gave her up at birth and b) having magic around other nonmagical people really sucks. While traveling with her dad (the Doctor) and Clara, she falls through a portal and lands in Storybrooke, where she discovers more about her past than she ever intended to learn.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note**:

Hey, guys! Here are a few things to know cast-wise:

Lucy Hale is fan casted as Mira

Henry and Charming and Snow's second child don't exist in this fic. It was a decision based mostly on convenience than anything else. So if you're wondering how Emma got to Storybrooke, Augustus was one of the people on her list from her days as a bounty hunter, and she followed him to Storybrooke to get him.

I'll be updating chapters periodically with any cast or plot information you may need to know.

I hope you enjoy the fic :)

* * *

><p>The metal bridge groaned and shook threateningly underneath their feet. Mira clutched at the railing tightly as the Doctor scanned around them with his sonic screwdriver, and Clara clutched her closer to her body, making sure the younger girl didn't fall into pit that was growing larger and larger underneath them.<p>

"Let's go to Verona the planet, he said! It'll be fun, he said!" Mira shouted over the roaring wind around them. It had started out as a lovely day to a brand new planet she had never even heard of, but of course, it ended up with some terrible villain trying to suck the planet into a huge black hole-like vortex, and of course they were in the middle of it, trying to save the day.

(She may have been complaining in the moment, but deep down, she absolutely loved and knew it all too well)

"I'm trying to slow down the velocity of the pit, but it just seems to be swallowing the signal," the Doctor remarked in exasperation, continuing to point and freeze the thing but it appeared to not have any effect.

Clara glared over the top of his daughter's head, shouting out, "I do hope you have a better idea. This is the last time we leave you in charge of picking a destination, buster."

"Now, now, don't you two gang up on me now, we have a planet to save! Clara, I need you to grab that power cord from the side."

"What the bloody hell is that going to accomplish?" the school teacher demanded, slowly edging towards the center where the Doctor stood and leaving Mira to hold her on for the moment.

The Doctor sighed, and Clara wanted to smack him. "The electric current from the cord should be enough to paralyze or at least temporarily render the pit still for a few hours so that we can try to figure something out."

Clara looked at him doubtfully. "But doesn't that only work on things that are solid?"

Another violent shudder of the metal bridge shook underneath Mira's feet. "Um… guys?"

"Well, if you have any bright ideas, I would love to hear them," he retorted back, adjusting the sonic screwdriver to get a better reading.

Mira felt more than heard the sound of metal cracking and collapsing underneath her feet. She clutched at the crumbling bars, scrambling for purchase, a tiny scream stuck in her throat.

"I will gladly-"

"_DAD!"_

Both Clara and the Doctor's gaze snapped to the teenager's cry of panic just in time for the metal to give way underneath her. Mira sucked in a sharp breath, her stomach plummeting before the rest of her followed suit.

At the last minute her hand was seized, and she looked up frantically to see the Doctor struggling to haul her upwards, but gravity was quickly becoming their enemy. She couldn't see Clara but was certain she was still on the bridge, or at least she hoped she was.

Mira felt her hand starting to slip from his grasp and she shouted, "I can't hold on much longer!"

The Doctor's eyes blazed in a mixture of fury and fear. "Don't you dare! Don't you dare let go!"

Groaning with effort, she tried her best to cling to his hand, but it was a futile attempt. The palm of her hand was sweating. Sooner or later she was going to slip out of his grasp.

"Don't let me stay down there too long," Mira begged, eyes brimming with tears. She suddenly felt very small and helpless, a feeling she hadn't felt in ages. She gazed up at him, letting out a trembling exhale. "I'll be seeing you."

And then she slipped from his grasp.

She couldn't hear anything over the roaring wind, but the last thing she saw was her dad's face, contorted in horror and despair as she fell before the darkness swallowed her whole.

Moments later, she opened her eyes and was met with the harsh light of the sun.

~8~

Emma Swan woke up to a warm, firm pressure pressed against her back. Slowly, she opened her eyes, blinking tiredly against the harsh rays of the sun, fighting the urge to bury her face into the pillow and pretend she hadn't woken up at all.

She shifted slightly from her curled position facing her bedroom door, but the warm pressure on her hip only tightened in response. Killian's arm was draped over her waist possessively, fingers curling against her hip reflexively. Memories of last night slipped back to her, making her smile softly. For a pirate, he had been surprisingly gentle with her, worshipping her as if she were something to be treasured, deeply coveted. She remembered being near tears from the tender look on his face as he finally moved inside her. She had felt safe, happy. Loved.

There weren't many points in her past where she ever felt any of those things. Neal had been the closest, but his betrayal had shaken her to the core, refusing to accept or let anyone in. Then, once she had moved to Storybrooke, there had been Graham, but those fleeting moments were short lived when Regina had taken him from her by crushing his heart, literally. Being alone was something she had long ago accepted. That was why when Killian came along, she had absolutely no idea how to handle herself around him.

Glancing at the bedside clock, the sheriff cursed softly when she realized it was already 9:15. She was a good forty-five minutes late for work. As quickly and quietly as she could, she gently eased his arm off her hip and onto the bed and sat up, cringing slightly at the creaks in the bed, hoping it wouldn't wake him.

"You really know how leave a man wanting more," he drawled sleepily from behind her. She sighed inaudibly. So much for sneaking out. The bed creaked once more as she heard him roll closer to her and nearly leapt out of her skin as he pressed his lips to her shoulder. "Where are you rushing off to?"

"Work," Emma sighed as his kisses progressed, shivering as the tip of his hook grazed her shoulder as he pushed back her hair for better access to her neck. "I'm already late as it is."

"Aren't you the boss? You can go in as late as you want," the pirate murmured against her neck, grinning as her breath hitched. "You can take the morning off, the afternoon… maybe even the day if I'm lucky."

"I think… you got lucky enough last night," Emma replied. An amused smile colored her voice enough for her to know Killian didn't take it as a complete brushoff. His kisses continued.

"As if you didn't enjoy it," Killian whispered into her ear. He crooked a finger under her chin, turning her head so that their mouths were only centimeters apart.

Coyly, Emma placed a finger to his lips, leaned in, and whispered. "Morning breath. Not right now."

She stood abruptly with the sheets around her as he plopped down onto the bed with a soft thump, pouting half-heartedly as her laugh filled the room.

"You're a bloody tease," Killian complained, eying her appreciatively as she got dressed. He tilted his head in admiration. "Who knew the act of getting dressed was so seductive? Though I'd much prefer getting you out of them."

She had already slipped into a pair of panties and was clasping the back of her bra when she throw him an amused look over her shoulder. "Yes, you should definitely try that when my parents are here. That will go over really well, especially with David."

Fortunately for them, Mary Margaret and David had spent the night at Granny's Inn for some alone time, which Emma really did not want to think about. It was a good thing they hadn't returned in the middle of their… late night activities. She already knew that her dad had a bit of a problem with Killian as it was, though there was a certain respect he was begrudgingly starting to accept of the pirate.

Lately, she had been mulling over the idea of getting her own place. Even before the year in New York where she couldn't remember anything about Storybrooke or her friends and families, she considered living on her own. She had done it for most of her life anyway so she knew it wouldn't be difficult to do that now. The only thing she worried about was her parents and how they would react to her moving out after having just been reunited for the second time in less than a year.

She finished getting dressed and went into the bathroom to brush her teeth and hair. She just finished rinsing out her mouth when she heard him clamber out of bed and enter the bathroom, stark naked and completely unashamed. She was too red faced and stunned to move as he vigorously brushed his teeth, downed a cup of water, and spit out the rest in the sink before gathering her into his arms, grinning at her flustered cheeks. "You were the one that made that minty paste stuff a requirement."

"Most people wear clothes in the morning," she protested weakly, melting into him anyway in spite of the lack of clothes. Or perhaps because of it.

"I'm not most people," he remarked with a cheeky grin, which softened as he pressed his lips to hers. The kiss lasted longer than it should have, but neither of them cared, both thoroughly enjoying the moment, especially a certain part of them was.

Breaking away from the kiss, Emma stepped back to put distance between them. "I really have to go now."

Killian groaned. "You're killing me, Swan."

She quickly backed out of the room before she did something neither of them would regret and would make her even more late to work. She grabbed her coat from the coat rack with her keys and phone in hand and made the quick walk to the sheriff's station. Maybe the cool air would help clear her head.

Ten minutes later, Emma was stepping into her office when her phone buzzed in her coat pocket. Fishing it out as she unlocked her office door, she answered it without checking the i.d., "Sheriff's office. This is Emma speaking."

There was a long pause on the other end, long enough for Emma to check her phone to see if the connection had died. But the call was still going. She was about to ask again when a young, feminine voice responded, "I'm sorry if I'm interrupting your work, but some woman named Ruby gave me your number to call you."

Frowning, Emma leaned against the frame of her office door, not knowing if she was going to have to step out or remain put. "Okay… what's your name?"

A pause. Then the girl responded, "Mira."

"All right, Mira," she said, leaning further into the doorframe. "What can I do for you?"

She couldn't have been older than 17, 18 at the most, but she sounded even younger than that. The girl let out a breath, assumedly trying to gather her bearings. "I don't know how or why I got here, but I've been separated from my family. This is going to sound strange, and I wouldn't blame you if you want to throw me into the loony bin, but I…" She made a frustrated noise, which for some reason summoned sympathy in the sheriff.

Instead of prompting her further, Emma went inside her office, grabbing a pen and a purple Post-It note from her desk. "Everything's going to be okay. Do you want to meet with me? We can get everything sorted out. I'll help you find your family."

"I… I don't have anyone," Mira whispered, voice barely audible over the line, but Emma managed to hear her.

The sheriff's grip tightened on her phone and slowly eased into the desk chair. The feeling of not having anyone to depend on was an all too familiar feeling, one that she was slowly starting to let go. Her heart couldn't help but go out to the girl even though she hadn't met her yet.

"Where are you right now?" Emma asked, uncapping her pen and jotting down some notes about the call.

"I'm in some kind of diner," the girl replied. "That Ruby woman gave me a cup of hot chocolate even though I can't pay for it. She's pretty insistent that one."

Emma smiled fondly at the thought of her friend. "She is definitely that." She capped her pen and shoved both it and the note into her coat pocket before getting up from her desk. "I want you to sit tight. I'll be over there shortly." She left her office and was about to lock up when she paused, adding, "I promise, we will figure this out."

"Thank you," Mira replied, and before she could say anything else, the line was disconnected. She shoved her phone into her pocket and headed out the door towards the diner. So much for having a uneventful day.


	2. Chapter 2

Mira sat in one of the red cushioned booths as far from the rest of the early lunch crowd as she could get, clutching the same cup of hot chocolate the dark haired woman with the red streaks in her hair had given to her even though she had told her she couldn't pay for it.

She had woken up in the middle of a forest. She hadn't been expecting to wake up at all. There hadn't been any sign of the Doctor, Clara, or the TARDIS. The only thing that she had to go on was the possibility of being thrown into another dimension. It wasn't like that had never happened before.

She'd had her iPhone in the pocket of her coat, which thankfully didn't shatter whenever she fell through the black hole. Immediately, she tried to call the TARDIS, Clara's phone, anyone, but there was some sort of strange static before the call went completely dead.

There had been enough battery life where she could access Google Maps and with a struggle to find proper reception, she had been dumbfounded to know she was somewhere in the vicinity of Bangor, Maine. Mira had pushed all of her questions to the side, knowing that the first thing she needed to do was find someplace that had actual people she could talk to. Not that talking to the forest squirrels hadn't been promising, but she definitely lacked her dad's uncanny ability to talk to animals.

Surprisingly, it hadn't taken the girl long until she reached the town, rushing up to the first person she could find, a rather stout, grumpy looking man who had looked at her oddly but was kind enough to point her to the direction of the diner. That was where she had met Ruby, instantly taking a liking to the woman by her cheerful demeanor.

She was currently distracting herself by tapping random apps on her phone when the diner door opened with a jingling of bells soon following suit. Not bothering to look up, the brunette was attempting to send a text to Clara's phone when she heard Ruby mention her name. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched as the waitress pointed her out to a blonde woman, who promptly turned around and started heading her way.

"I take it you're Mira," the blonde woman remarked. Mira looked up from her phone and looked her over somewhat warily before giving a brief nod. "Mira…?" She trailed off expectantly, waiting for her to supply a surname.

"Just Mira, for now," she replied, a bit uncomfortably. She wasn't sure who she could trust in this town so it was probably best to keep her personal information as under wraps as possible. "I'm guessing you're the sheriff?"

The older woman nodded, holding out her hand with a reassuring smile. "You guess right. My name's Emma Swan, Emma if you're not completely into last names."

Lips quirking into a smile, Mira took her hand and shook it, Emma's hand soft and cool to the touch in contrast to her own thawing hands curled around the cup of hot chocolate. The sheriff took the smile as an invitation and slid into the empty seat across from her. "I'm sorry for interrupting your work, but I really had nowhere to turn to."

"It's no problem," Emma replied. "Finding people is what I do best." When Ruby came over to ask if they needed anything, Emma ordered another cup of coffee while Mira declined the offer of another hot chocolate but was ignored all the same. _These people are pushy_, she thought to herself. "So what's the last thing you remember?"

_Helping a thousand year old alien and his girlfriend, who both happen to be her parents, close a black hole before falling into it and waking up in the middle of a forest_ didn't appear to be the most sane answer in the world, especially in a town that appeared so normal. But she knew she had to stick as close to the truth as possible if she wanted to get away with it. She wasn't the best liar, and in most situations, she would've been happy about that feat.

"All I remember is waking up in the middle of a forest," Mira answered honestly, as honest she could get. "I don't remember how or why I got there. It just sort of… happened?"

She wasn't sure if Emma believed her, but going by the furrowed brows, she'd guess she was confused about her explanation.

"I don't expect you to believe me," Mira went on, growing more nervous as the silence grew between them. "It sounds like a terrible plot point on some sort of sci-fi show where someone wakes up somewhere, and they have absolutely no idea how they got there. At least this can be a good story for you."

"There are a lot of those in this town," Emma remarked, long after the waitress had returned with her coffee and another hot chocolate for Mira, who all but gaped as she sashayed away. When she looked back at the sheriff, all she got was an amused smile. "Don't even think she won't bring you another one if you stick around long enough."

Over the next twenty minutes, Emma continued to question her in the hopes of triggering her memory. Either she didn't know the answers or she couldn't answer them in fear of giving something away. It was incredibly frustrating, and it must've shown on her face because Emma's hand reached across the table and covered her hand with hers. It was almost as if a mother was comforting her child. Mira's heart ached for that.

"It's going to be all right. We will figure this out," Emma said determinedly. "For now, I think I'm going to talk to Granny to see if she can spare a room for you for a while."

Mira's eyes widened. "But I can't possibly pay for…"

The sheriff eyed her sternly. "You don't need to worry about that now. We'll figure something out in a few days if you insist."

The brunette nodded and took a sip of her hot chocolate, sighing happily as the creamy liquid met her lips.

The bells of the diner door chimed again, and the same grumpy looking individual who had pointed her towards the diner came in, making a beeline straight for their booth. "Oh good. Sheriff, you're here."

"Why is it whenever I see you now, there is some sort of crisis?" Emma remarked dryly.

The gruff man ignored the jibe and continued, "I've heard through the grapevine there might be another ice storm heading our way. Apparently the Snow Q-" he was cut off by a stern look from Emma, and Mira immediately took it as a shutting up tactic because she was there. He looked sort of uncomfortable as he glanced between the two of them and immediately jerked his head to the side, indicating he wanted to speak with her privately. "I'm afraid the generators won't hold out for another one of these _storms_."

Mira chimed in, unable to control herself, "Why don't you just conserve the amount of fuel now in preparation then?" When they both turned to look at her, she shrugged, pulling off a nonchalant attitude even when her nerves were on end. "It's basic survival mechanism when living in such a modern age."

For a moment, the man looked stumped and scratched the back of his head in a sheepish manner. "I… hadn't really thought of that."

The brunette practically radiated smugness but covered her smirk with her mug as she took another sip.

Emma barely concealed a smile before addressing the man, "We can talk more about the impending storm after I finish here." She left it at that as a clear dismissal, but that didn't stop the man from glancing at Mira curiously on his way out of the door. She took a sip of her coffee and remarked, "The longer you stay here you'll realize the people in this town are incredibly nosy."

"I can see that," Mira replied, noticing the way more than a few of the diner's customers were throwing furtive glances in their direction that weren't so secretive.

Once they finished their drinks, Emma offered to introduce her to Granny, and they immediately headed to the counter where the elderly woman was sitting at the bar, balancing the diner's books. The talk didn't last long, and Mira was floored by Granny's generosity to let her to stay in a room free of charge. She immediately promised as soon as she could find a job, she would pay her back. The diner and inn owner refused to hear anything of it but did agree to payment on two conditions: first, Mira wouldn't start paying until a couple of months, and secondly, she would only pay half the room cost. It was a more than decent offer, and Mira accepted gratefully.

Emma left her in Granny's hands as she went to talk to the grumpy man about the ice storm, though Mira believed there was more to it than that. She really shouldn't get involved.

(Who was she kidding? Of course she was. The Doctor was her dad after all.)

Leaving Ruby in charge, Granny escorted her to the inn, answering Mira's questions kindly, although some of her answers seemed to be purposefully vague. It was yet another red flag that went up in her head, but there wasn't much she could do about it right then and there.

They made it to the room in no time. It was a nice, quaintly decorated room, one that you would expect at a small town inn. There was a double size bed faced parallel to a large window overlooking the town. The walls were a painted soft pink, complementing the pink in the bedspread which had a small floral print across the comforter. There was a medium size armoire near the entrance, and when she got a closer look, there were drawers for clothes and other valuables near the bottom. There wasn't a television inside, however. That didn't bother her. She probably (hopefully) wouldn't be staying that long.

"The restroom is just through there," Granny commented, pointing to the door next to a floral painting. "We us usually don't have much of a lunch or dinner crowd because of the diner, but you are more than welcome to our breakfast we do occasionally."

"Thank you," Mira said with a warm smile. "You've done more than enough for me already. Do you know of any place that's hiring random strays straggling into town? I need to at least have a way to pay for the food going into my stomach."

Knowing that disagreeing with her would be pointless, the elderly woman looked thoughtful before replying, "I'm not sure anyone's up for hiring anyone right now, but there is a library that's just opened recently. Ask for a woman named Belle. She could tell you more about it."

Mira nodded and was soon left to her own devices. She knew trying to find a way back to the Doctor and Clara wouldn't come to her overnight. At the moment, she had other pressing concerns like where she was going to buy some new clothes and with what she could purchase with them. Small diamonds and coins from other planets would only get her so far. Her bag may have been magically enhanced to be bigger on the inside, but that didn't mean she actually had any money inside it.

She did, however, have her charger. Pulling it out of her bag, she immediately plugged her phone into the outlet behind the side table, making another mental note to have the Doctor find a way to make the phone have a permanently full battery when she saw him again.

If she saw him again.

Groaning softly, she plopped faced first into the mattress, burrowing her face into the pillow, inhaling the soft scent of perfume that clung to the fabric. Was that Ferbreeze?

She missed her room in the TARDIS, how the ceiling reflected the starry night of space whenever she flicked off the lights. She missed exploring every room and crevasse of the space ship, thrilled with the knowledge of never being able to find the same room twice or explore the TARDIS fully. Every discovery was new. The day she found the pool in the library had been one of her favorite days. She missed the way the Doctor and Clara danced around each other in that frustratingly adorable way.

She missed her little time traveling family and their home.

Flipping onto her back, Mira turned her gaze towards the ceiling fan, watching idly as it slowly did its rotations, losing track after twenty. It didn't matter if she was stuck in this town for a couple of months. With absolute certainty, she knew that the Doctor would find her, come hell or high water or however that saying went.

"I suppose I should try to get that library job," she spoke aloud, to no one in particular.

~8~

As soon as Granny agreed to take care of Mira, Emma headed out of the diner and followed Leroy towards the sheriff's station, knowing that there was much more than generators the town needed to be concerned about. During the walk, she thought about Mira's story, and it boggled her mind. Some of the pieces just weren't adding up. No one just woke up in the middle of a forest without knowing how they got there.

Unless something else brought her there.

She couldn't know for sure because Mira didn't appear to know anything about Storybrooke or the fairytales coming to life. How could she possibly know if something brought her here?

Storybrooke was once again cloaked to outsiders. So how did she get through?

There was only one person Emma could ask, and that person was Regina, the former evil queen that originally installed this curse onto everyone. She let out an audible, irritated sigh. She was hoping it wouldn't come down to it, but there appeared to be little choice.

"All right. What do you have for me?" she asked once they made it through the door.

Leroy yanked off his scarf in his irritation, replying, "She's in hiding now. Can't imagine why given that everyone already knows she's the cause of our problems and not Elsa at the moment."

The way those last words were shaped nearly had Emma narrowing her eyes at the former dwarf but refrained from saying anything. While the town has finally begun to accept Elsa, there were still quite a few people that didn't trust her completely. In time, that would go away, but that didn't stop her from feeling irritated by those comments.

"So there's no lead, no trial. Why this is turning out just grand," Emma retorted.

Leroy snorted. "You're telling me."

"Well, with attitudes like that, you'll certainly see no progress." Emma turned around and saw her father and Killian walk in, carrying boxes with even more files on this woman. When this was all over, if she never saw a file box ever again, it would be too soon.

Her lips eased into a light smile in spite of the jab and leaned against her desk, folding her arms over her chest. "Since when have you been for team spirit?"

Placing the box on a nearby desk, Killian casually strolled up to her with his ever present smirk and reached up to tuck a strand of her hair behind her ear. "Perhaps I've been inspired."

David cleared his throat, narrowing his eyes protectively at the display, and immediately changed topics. "Elsa hasn't remembered anything yet?"

"No, she hasn't," Emma replied, halfheartedly batting his hand away before subtly lacing her fingers through his. "I'm hoping whatever files we have can help trigger something. Maybe for me, too."

Apparently, there was something linking Anna, Elsa, and herself to the Snow Queen, and they had absolutely no idea what it was. Emma had never been comfortable with not knowing. It just didn't sit well with her.

As if the thought just occurred to him, Leroy supplied with a curious expression on his face, "Do you think it has anything to do with that girl you were talking to today?"

"What girl?" David and Killian asked at the same time, both ending up wearing up a similar look of annoyance over speaking at the same time.

"It's… I'm looking into it," was all Emma was going to say but at their expectant look, she nearly rolled her eyes as she continued, "She called me at Ruby's request. She ended up waking up in the middle of the forest, having no idea how or why she got here. We're trying to figure it out."

"What if she's part of the Snow Queen's plot?" Leroy demanded. He looked like he couldn't believe the words that were coming out of her mouth.

Emma was doubtful of that. "I really don't think that's the case."

Leroy snorted derisively. "So it just so happens that girl shows up around the time Storybrooke's becoming the Snow Queen's refrigerator for her damned ice cream."

Annoyance flared inside of the sheriff. She wasn't sure why because it was a logical question. Still, she couldn't help but retorting rather sharply, "She's young, and she's alone. I seriously doubt she's in cahoots with this woman. You didn't hear how… upset she was."

Killian must have sensed how truly vexed she was becoming because his grip on her hand tightened in a reassuring squeeze. "You may want to redirect your suspicion somewhere else, mate," he told the former dwarf evenly, giving him a level stare until he finally backed down.

David then asked, "Where did she find herself exactly?"

Emma shrugged. "I didn't have much time to ask her. We only talked for about twenty minutes before I had to go. I made sure she's taken care of until then."

Her father's expression became contemplative, taking a few minutes to think as Emma asked, "Since we were brought back to Storybrooke, maybe the curse has changed? Could it be possible that she just stumbled into town, and when she crossed the border, it wiped her memory?"

"I honestly don't know," he said. "I'm certain that no one from the outside world can infiltrate past the borders. It's something to ask –"

"Regina," Emma sighed. "I was hoping there was an alternative for that."

Her father's lips quirked into a smile that was a mixture of sympathy and amusement, and Emma couldn't help but return a small smile in return.

Putting the Mira situation on hold, they all started looking through the files, hoping to find something that could both trigger Emma and Elsa's memories, for everyone's sake.


	3. Chapter 3

Over the next few days, Mira was beginning to get the hang of things.

The next morning, she had stumbled into the reception area where there were muffins and coffee. Grabbing one of each, she had chatted with Ruby, who had insisted on letting her borrow some of her clothes. "At least until you can afford new clothes," Ruby had added quickly after reading whatever expression had been on her face.

She had gone into town not long after and had followed Ruby's directions to the library, which had thankfully been open. The woman she had assumed was Belle had been sitting behind the large desk in the front and had immediately greeted her warmly at the door. They had chatted about the library and eventually that had led to a discussion over their favorite books, discovering their shared love of _Wuthering Heights_. When Mira had hesitantly inquired if there had been any jobs available, Belle had hired her right off the bat, saying that someone who had a love of books would do perfectly there.

With a place to stay and a job all lined up, Mira had felt that things were starting to pick up. That same day she had met Emma, to talk more about her situation. She hadn't been able to not like the sheriff, but so far, everyone she had met with the exception of Grumpy had been nice. Almost too nice.

While her original outfit was now hanging up fresh and clean in the armoire, Mira was currently wearing a pair of Ruby's black leggings and a loose fitting blue sweater, paired with the pair of boots she had come with. She was mildly surprised the woman owned another color beyond red and black but was thankful all the same. She made a note to buy a coat whenever she could afford one. If there was an actual ice storm hitting this town (whether it was something natural or not she was going to find out), she probably should make sure she wouldn't freeze to death.

Fiddling with the strap of her bag, she walked the short distance to the library, all too aware of the eyes on her. She knew it would pass eventually, but it didn't stop the sensation of her skin practically crawling as people examined her as if she was a new trinket in a shop.

Mira had never been more thankful to having grown up in the TARDIS with the Doctor as opposed to living in a small town where everyone stared at you.

As soon as she reached the library, she gently tugged on the door and went inside. Even though she started working there, she didn't have a key if the doors had been locked. It was understandable, and Belle was taking a chance on her not being some evil psychopath even though Mira knew she wasn't, but the librarian didn't know that.

She immediately set her bag behind the desk, ducking down to murmur a brief Latin incantation to disguise the contents of her bag (a trick she had picked up from Morgana when she, the Doctor, and Clara had stumbled across Camelot) before rising back quickly to make sure it didn't look like anything out of the ordinary.

Yes, she had magic. She wasn't sure how or why she had it, but had it she did. Apparently, it wasn't your everyday type of magic, if such a thing existed. It extended to the old world of sorcery and magic similar to Camelot, Albion, and perhaps even beyond that. Fortunately, when she realized she had it, they came across Camelot in its time of prosperity, where practicing magic was no longer a punishment worthy of death. As she got older, they frequented Camelot less and less, but when she was roughly sixteen or so, she had flirted with Merlin shamelessly, just to see how flustered she could get him, and that was quite a lot.

Morgana and Merlin always encouraged her to practice her craft so that she would be able to harness it and control it. Lately, though, she felt it was more of a burden than anything. It seemed whenever she attempted to use it, trouble always managed to find her and her family. Not that it didn't find it already, but she couldn't stop thinking that maybe something was attracted to whatever energy she possessed. With this in mind, Mira had slipped away from the Doctor and Clara during one of their trips to another alien market and had sought out what some of the locals had referred to as a witch doctor, hoping to find a way to at least suppress her magic.

Perseus, the name of the half deformed looking creature, had agreed but at the price of calling her in for a favor once in a while (he still hadn't come to collect on that yet, and Mira worried about the day he might). She had to sign a small contract with her blood, something she really hadn't been keen on doing but had been desperate to try anything at that point. The potion hadn't taken more than an hour to make, and she had been beginning to wonder if her dad and Clara had noticed she was gone until the creature limped out with the bottle in hand.

"Take no more than half a drop monthly," he had warned in his old, gravelly voice. "If, however, your magic persists, you must increase in frequency, not in dose." He had also mentioned that taking more than the prescribed dose would only make these worst. If the whole bottle were to be drunk, it would render her comatose or perhaps even kill her.

She hadn't taken her monthly dose in... awhile. The effects were almost always worse than what it was suppressing. Random hot flashes, bouts of nausea, and severe cramps were only a handful of the wonderful side effects that Mira discovered while taking the prescribed dose. She only used it when she absolutely had to now.

Being in a strange place where she knew no one, she knew the best thing was to make sure she was at her sharpest and not distracted with side effects from a sketchy suppressant.

The door to the office opened, and Belle greeted her with a warm smile. They continued Mira's training through the library. Today was the shipment of new books, how they should be logged in, organized, and shelved.

They were in the middle of pulling out books from the third box when Belle's phone rang. Checking the caller i.d., the librarian smiled softly and said, "It's my husband. I should take this. Just come and get me if you have any questions."

"Okay," Mira replied with a smile, watching as she walked out of the backroom speaking in soft tones to a man named Rumple. The name had her furrowing her eyebrows in confusion, not knowing how one acquired such a name. She squelched her curiosity by returning her attention to the books, though the thought still lingered in the back of her mind.

With each book she pulled out, a label was taped along the spine with the call number and on the inside the barcode used to scan books in and out of the system. The process was soon becoming a blur, but for the most part she was enjoying herself.

By the time she was finished with the boxes, it was a quarter to noon. She lifted her arms and stretched out her limbs, cramping slightly from being on the ground for so long. She glanced around the room to see if there were any more boxes until she spotted a book peeking out from under one of the cabinets.

Pushing the last freshly marked books to the side she crawled over to the book, wondering how on earth she missed it. It was probably a stray she had set to the side but neglected to grab it. She pulled it out from its hiding place and dusted off the front cover. Clearly, the book had been sitting back here for some time.

"_Once Upon A Time_," she read the title aloud. She turned the book over in her hands, noting the drab brown covers with a lack of interest. "It doesn't look promising." It really didn't. She couldn't imagine a child wanting to have their parents read stories from this boring looking book, but she should really know better than to judge a book by its cover.

She opened the book to the first page, flipping past the title page until she reached the table of contents. The stories ranged from the classics like _Snow White and the Seven Dwarves_ to some more stories she had never heard of before, which was odd since she practically had all the fairytales memorized from the Brothers Grimm.

She skimmed through Snow White, taking in the pictures when she paused. One of the dwarves looked incredibly familiar. Bringing the book closer to her face, she squinted at the background characters, the one who wore a sour expression on his face. She couldn't quite think of someone that reminded her of him, but it was enough to spark her curiosity. Flipping past the picture of Snow White and Charming expecting their first child (Who knew that was part of the fairytale? She certainly didn't), she stumbled across the more unfamiliar stories near the end.

It was a picture of an extravagant ball. The halls were full of beautifully dressed people, all important nobles, lords, princesses, princes, and ladies from all over whatever fictional land they were from. Several of the guests are twirling around the dance floor, almost as if they were floating on air. There was one couple in particular that caught her eye. The woman was wearing an attention-grabbing red dress, designed simply but was definitely eye-catching. Her blonde hair was pinned into a bun revealing the elegant slope of her neck. Her back was to the picture so she couldn't see her face nor could she see her partner's face, who was leaning forward to whisper something into her ear.

Mira shrugged it off, deciding not to think anything of it until she flipped to the next page, eyes wide and lips parting in a silent "oh".

Emma Swan was in the book, dancing and smiling at her gentleman partner, donned in all black. He was looking at her with just as much admiration as she was for him. Their faces were captured perfectly, up close and focused. It was impossible to deny it wasn't the sheriff.

How was this even possible?

She shut the book and stared at the cover, wondering how many more people from this town were in the book. More importantly, why was it hidden away and not on the shelves for people to check out?

If she had her bag, Mira would've immediately snuck it in there, but it was out in the front by Belle. Christ. Was she in the book, too?

She would have to come back and take it on her way back to the inn.

Carefully, she placed the book back in its original place, hoping it didn't look like it had been disturbed. She rose to her feet and began placing books on the trolley for registration into the library, the pieces finally beginning to settle into an elaborately designed puzzle she really didn't understand.

~8~

"Do you see anything you recognize in there?" Emma asked, holding a stack of pictures in her hands.

Elsa's lips formed into a small frown as she flipped through the files. She looked up as she replied, "If there is anything recognizable, I must be blocked in some way. Are you having any luck?"

"About as much as you are," the sheriff sighed. "I don't understand it. Why go into so much effort for us to forget?" Had they been so close to figuring her out in the past that the Snow Queen had their memories wiped of her? It didn't make any sense otherwise. She felt like she had been saying or thinking that phrase a lot lately.

"Anna doesn't remember her either," the ice queen remarked quietly, thumbing over the picture they had found weeks ago of Emma and the Snow Queen in the ice cream shop, trying to make herself remember. "It must be part of her plan."

"If we could only figure out what it is," Emma replied. "That would make things clearer in this mess."

For the past couple of days, she and many other people in the town were concentrating so much on the new threat that she had almost forgotten about Mira, a girl who found herself in Storybrooke without as much of an inkling of how she got there.

The more she chewed over it, the more she was beginning to suspect the girl knew more than she was letting on. However, she hadn't been presented with the opportunity to talk to her about it yet.

It might be possible that Mira had been transported through some sort of portal. Why she arrived through a portal wasn't as important as how she ended up in Storybrooke in the first place. And she had the perfect person to ask about traveling through rifts in time.

"Elsa?" Emma broached the topic carefully, leaning back in her chair as the ice queen looked up at the sound of her name. "What do you know about portals?"

"Portals?" Elsa echoed, titling her head slightly.

"Portals. Rifts. A stitch in time. How do they work? Are they conjured by magic, or is it something else?"

Elsa walked around the table, her skirts swishing quietly around her feet as she asked, "Do you think the Snow Queen came here from another land? That's very possible."

"Yes, I think that's a good possibility, but I wasn't talking about the Snow Queen," the sheriff stated. She stored away that tidbit of information to share with her parents and Killian later, but for now, she had to know about this girl. "Can portals occur spontaneously?"

There was a pause as Elsa thought it over before responding, "It's certainly rare, but anything is possible. Mostly, someone has to conjure a portal, or a rift as you called it, in order to travel through time or from one realm to another, depending on the purpose or the intent."

"So what you're saying is it's highly unlikely for someone to randomly show up through one of those things without knowing how or why they got to wherever they turned up?" Emma asked, a feeling of suspicion rising in her chest.

Elsa shook her head. "I didn't say that. It's extremely rare, but it is possible. Anything in our world is. We're living proof of that, are we not?" Her lips quirked into a smile, and Emma couldn't help but do the same.

She needed to check in with Mira again and see if she could anything else out of her. There was an unsettling feeling she had but couldn't place a name to whatever it was. It made her restless and on edge. What was that?

"If it doesn't have anything to do with the Snow Queen… may I ask what this is about?" Elsa asked, almost hesitantly as if she was expecting a no.

Sighing, Emma folded her arms on the desk and was tempted to rest her head against the desk she was almost that drained. Everything was piling up on her during the past few days. It wouldn't surprise her if she just collapsed from exhaustion one of these days. "It's nothing confidential or anything, but I'm trying to make sure as few people know as possible. I'll let you know when I find out more, I promise."

She honestly did like Elsa. There was something between them that made her feel like they understood each other. It wasn't as if she didn't trust the ice queen. She didn't know her all that well, even though their connection felt pretty solid.

Elsa seemed to accept that, and they continued looking through the files.

Hours later, with nothing close to progress being made, the two women decided to call it a day. Emma asked if she wanted to head to Granny's to grab a late lunch, and Elsa agreed, asking if her sister could come as well. They had found Anna during their last encounter with the Snow Queen, and while the sisters' reunion was a happy one, there hadn't been much time for them to bond. The sheriff agreed and texted her father if he and Anna wanted to join them for lunch. The Arendale sisters were still adjusting to Storybrooke. The idea of Anna trying to operate a cell phone was laughable. Killian barely knew how to work the one she got for him. Thank God for the invention of speed dialing.

They were only in the diner for a few moments when Emma looked out of the window, catching a glimpse of long dark hair before the girl rounded the corner. Mira.

Forgetting her appetite, the sheriff left the diner, not hearing anyone call out to her, and followed her. Her instincts never led her astray before, and she wasn't going to stop listening to them now. Wherever Mira was going, she was going in a hurry. Where could she possibly be going when she was still a fresh face in town?

She was a good distance away from her but kept up a brisk pace, slipping behind the building the girl disappeared to before she realized.

The girl was heading towards the forest.

Emma hastened her pace, the ever present reminder of her gun pressed against her back.

A couple of times she nearly lost sight of her as she stepped over fallen branches and logs, trying not to draw attention to herself. The further they went into the woods, the more twigs and scratchy branches she encountered, brushing away at them irritably as she continued her pursuit.

Suddenly, the temperature plummeted. It wasn't a natural progression as it was a sharp, abrupt drop. The sheriff could see her breath in front of her face, a soft puff of white coming from her mouth.

Hauling her jacket closer to her chest, Emma picked up her pace, only pausing to struggle against a particularly insistent tree branch snagging at her leg. She looked up to find Mira was even further ahead now, almost to the point where she couldn't see her.

Cursing audibly, she took a step forward to continue following her…

"Emma, Emma. We keep running into each other like this."

The sheriff jerked around, immediately whipping out her gun and came face to face with the Snow Queen. She tensed as the woman smiled demurely and cocked her gun threateningly.

"You're still insisting on using that little mundane contraption? I'm disappointed in you," she tutted lightly.

Emma bit back a smart aleck retort and instead demanded, "Can you not play the innocent card? You must've been looking for me, otherwise why else would you be here?"

The queen continued to smile that infuriating smile, an air of "I know something you don't" practically pouring out of her. "I wished to speak with you privately without the cavalry and theatrics."

Raising an eyebrow in disbelief, Emma asked, "You don't think this is theatrics?" She gestured to the rapidly frosting forest. Trees and bushes were iced over in sheets of white as the ground glimmered white in the fading sunlight.

Brushing off the comment, the Snow Queen took a step forward, and Emma wanted to step back but held firm. "Come any closer, and I won't hesitate to shoot you back to wherever you came from."

With a flick of the queen's wrist, the gun flew out of the sheriff's hands, disappearing into a patch of bushes several yards away. She prepared herself to go retrieve it, but her legs were immobile. When she looked down, they were encased in ice. Her gaze snapped up to the queen, who was sporting an all too smug expression. "You can't run away this time."

"Let me out of this."

"I will as soon as we've had our talk," she remarked. She approached her almost as if one would a distant friend or cordial acquaintance. "The last thing we need is for your father or pirate boyfriend to interrupt our girl talk."

Huffing in annoyance, Emma gave up on struggling but remained tense just in case she was set free. "If this is your version of girl bonding, I don't even have to wonder how many girlfriends you have."

"Does it bother you, Emma, that your life has been one big mystery?" the Snow Queen asked, once again bypassing the comment by turning the tables on her. "That you're suddenly part of a world that you have little control over?"

Emma frowned, determined to remain silent, but couldn't help feeling the words resonating in her. Her magic was something she knew little about, and she knew how to control it even less than that. She wouldn't let this woman get inside her head.

The queen smiled smugly at her lack of response, taking her silence as confirmation before continuing, "Do you honestly think anyone in this sad little town respects you? They fear you, fear your power… and what will come of it."

"What's your point exactly?" Emma demanded, eyes narrowing into slits.

"My point is, Emma," the Snow Queen remarked, reaching out to tuck a loose blonde curl behind the sheriff's ear, "are you certain you can trust the people closest to you?"

A sharp cracking sound put an end to whatever monologue she had planned. Both glancing down, they saw the ice holding Emma still was rapidly cracking and splintering apart. Emma had no idea how it was happening since her hands weren't of much use to her, and judging from the dismayed look on the queen's face, neither did she.

"How are you doing that?" the queen demanded.

"I have no idea," Emma replied bewilderedly. She cringed as the other woman tried to freeze her back into place, but whatever was setting her free wouldn't have any of that.

As soon as her hands were free, the sheriff didn't hesitate to conjure up everything she had inside of her cumulating into a blinding light in the palms of her hand before slamming the Snow Queen back, further than she had ever thrown anyone.

"Emma!"

Emma jerked around and saw Mira standing on a log several yards away, her gun in her hand. Before she could say or do anything, the brunette moved her arm back and tossed the gun her way. She reached for it just in time for one of her legs to come from free, thankful the gun hadn't gone off. The last patch of ice was still on her left foot. She desperately tried to wriggle free as she spotted the Snow Queen in the distance rising to her feet.

Mira was at her side in an instant, supporting her as she tried to wriggle free. She mumbled something she couldn't her, but as the queen came closer, she couldn't worry about that. She raised her gun towards the woman in white, cocking it and aiming it carefully at her chest. She went to step forward, momentarily forgetting about the ice on her foot when she found she could move about freely.

Emma quickly glanced down, and sure enough, her foot was free. It was enough of a distraction that when she looked up, the queen was already disappearing in a whirl of white smoke, taking the frigid polar temperature with her.

Lowering her gun, the sheriff turned to Mira, who was eying the place where the queen disappeared in mild shock before meeting her gaze, asking at the same time Emma demanded, "Who on earth _are_ you?"


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note:**

Hey, guys! I'm glad you're liking the story. Just a few updates:

If you haven't seen it yet, I updated some story info on the first chapter, but if you haven't, I'll gladly repost it here:

Henry and Charming and Snow's second child aren't in this fic. It was mostly done for convenience and keeping relevance to the story. The new reason why Emma came across Storybrooke is that Augustus was on her list of rounding up fugitives back when she was a bounty hunter.

From now on (unless I forget any other important story notes, I'll update the first chapter), I'll be posting story updates in the new chapters. Again, thank you guys so much for reviewing, favoriting, and following! You all make my day 3

* * *

><p>After their forest stint with the Snow Queen, Mira and Emma walked back to town in a mostly awkward silence. Neither of them really knew what to say to the other. How did you explain something to someone that might make them think you're completely mental?<p>

There was more to the town than being a small coastal port in Maine of that Mira was damned certain, and it was apparent from the way Emma walked tensely beside her that she knew Mira had seen her use magic. Where did they go from there?

Letting out a breath, the brunette commented, "You know… it's cool. That you used magic, I mean."

Emma looked at her doubtfully. "Really?"

Mira shrugged casually. "Yeah. I guess. I mean, I've seen a lot of strange things in my life. What's wrong with a little magic?"

The sheriff halted abruptly, grabbing her by the arm so she had no chose but to stop with her. "What were you doing in the forest anyway?"

"So you were following me," Mira accused mildly, almost ducking her head at Emma's unimpressed look. Sighing, she rolled her neck awkwardly, remarking, "I was just looking for the place where I was dropped off."

"Dropped off?"

"Clearly, I didn't just waltz into town on a whim and decide to become the new spectacle," she said dryly. She ran a hand through her hair, a habit she picked up from both the Doctor and Clara whenever they were stressed. "I wasn't completely honest with you, but I thought if I told you about how I really got here you'd ship me off to an asylum or something, but it appears I may have some leverage to keep myself away from a strait jacket."

Emma folded her arms across her chest, her gun already tucked on her belt behind her. "So how did you get here?"

"I'm not really sure myself. It was some sort of… black hole? My parents and I were trying to close it when I got sucked into it." Mira met her gaze steadily, shoving her hands into her pocket. "I know it sounds crazy, but it's the truth. That's the best I can offer until I find out more."

The silence stretched out between them. There was some part of Emma that seemed to be putting the missing pieces of the puzzle together even though whatever picture she was getting didn't make much sense. While she was trying to process, Mira opened her bag where she had smuggled the fairytale book from the library and pulled it out, asking, "I was also trying to find the best way to ask you about this."

The sheriff's attention was instantly pulled to the book held out in Mira's hands. She glanced between her and the book as if she wasn't sure where to look first.

Instead of waiting for a reply, Mira said a bit sheepishly, "I did sort of smuggle it out of the library. I was going to return it, but my curiosity got the better of me, especially when I saw you were in this book." She flipped open the book to the page where the close up shot of Emma and her dance partner were dancing, locked in an intimate sort of gaze. A light shade of red rose high in Emma's cheeks, but she didn't comment on that.

"Well," Emma said, accepting the book when she offered it to her, while staring at the page in a daze, "you've certainly done your fair share of sleuthing, haven't you?"

Mira shrugged. "It was more of an accident than anything else. I wasn't actively trying to find anything."

"But you were hoping to find something," Emma guessed, giving her an almost knowing look, which was odd since they hardly knew each other.

Reluctantly, the brunette nodded. Then, Emma remarked, "We should go tell the others what happened. I'll try to explain this place the best I can between here and the diner."

During the walk back to town, the sheriff explained as much as she could about Storybrooke without overwhelming her. Mira, for the most part, accepted everything she was telling her though the idea of fairytale characters being real was a bit mind boggling. Apparently, Emma was the daughter of Prince Charming and Snow White, the former mayor of the town was also the former Evil Queen who cursed the town, and the townspeople were transient fairytale characters that were depicted in the book.

And Mira thought her own story was going to sound insane.

Thankfully, she didn't have to talk about it because soon they were in the diner, and Emma was heading over to a booth where Ruby and blondish looking man who definitely looked as if he popped out of the fairytale book were sitting. A man dressed in a black leather jacket with an equally dark shirt and jeans (… with a hook?) stopped throwing darts at the dart board as soon as he saw them. He looked like the man from the book, the one Emma had been dancing with.

"Hey, where did you disappear off to?" a woman asked in a beautiful blue dress asked in concern, her eyes slipping from the sheriff to her with a flash of confusion in her eyes. The dress and the braid made her look almost like the queen from Frozen… Oh.

Well, wasn't this complicated?

Hoping she wasn't gaping too much, Mira clutched the old book to her chest as she lingered a few steps behind the sheriff, trying to not draw too much attention to herself.

"We had a little run in with our favorite new threat of the week," Emma responded, rubbing the back of her neck tiredly.

The man sitting next to Ruby looked at her with concern. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah. She didn't want to hurt me, or at least it didn't seem like it," she replied. "She said she just wanted to talk with me. Alone."

"I'm sure that's all she wanted, especially since you and Elsa are somehow connected with her," the darkly dressed man remarked dryly. He and the sheriff shared a look, and Mira instantly knew that he was definitely the guy from the book.

"It doesn't really matter what she wants. I'm more concerned with how she found us in the first place," Emma remarked. She tossed a glance in the brunette's direction, and suddenly all eyes were on Mira, who felt her cheeks heat up dramatically under their scrutiny.

"So… she knows everything, right?" Ruby asked cautiously, exchanging a look with Emma and the man beside her.

Before Emma could say anything, Mira intervened, "I was the reason she was in the forest in the first place. It's not her fault. Honestly, I think I would've figured it out anyway given my tendencies to stick my nose where it doesn't belong… But if someone's to blame for the whole thing, I'll gladly take it."

"No, this isn't your fault," the sheriff remarked with a shake of her head. "Apparently, she's been trying to corner me for a while. She would've found a way whether or not I followed you to the forest or not."

Mira didn't say anything to that, but somewhere in the back of her mind she couldn't help but think of the elixir buried in her purse. It was a good thing she hadn't taken it otherwise she would not have been able to set Emma free, but did the good outweigh the bad in using her magic? It didn't appear that neither Emma nor this Snow Queen knew it had been her so she was going to try to keep it a secret for as long as she could.

"Actually, she may try to find a way to get to you, Elsa," Emma added, looking towards the ice queen.

"It's probably best for neither of you to be by yourself," the man with the hook remarked.

Both Emma and Elsa brushed it off, remarking, "I can take care of myself."

His expression turned exasperated as the man beside Ruby remarked, "It's just a cautionary measure. We're not sure what the queen wants with either of you or how much she's willing risk to get to you."

The two women appeared to accept it but barely. Then Elsa asked, "How was she able to exist in this town for so long? She must have cloaked herself somehow."

"Or found a way to slip into town undetected," Ruby replied. "It's strange how there's suddenly an ice cream shop that hasn't ever been registered in the town's registry."

"We've searched the shop, but there's next to nothing there," Emma replied.

There was a brief silence as they thought over the situation when a sudden thought occurred to Mira. "Has she ever used an ice cream truck?" Everyone looked at her again, and she managed to keep on, "Because where I landed, there was a huge pile of leaves and overgrown branches and vines covering something that didn't look like it belonged in the forest. I got curious so I got closer and saw that it was some sort of broken down van. I tried to get into it, but the door was locked."

That was a partial lie. She tried to break into it with her magic but was promptly thrown back from it. When she had been returning to the forest, she wasn't just returning to the portal site but to try to see if she could open the truck without falling on her ass again.

"Can you take us there?" the man beside the waitress asked. His hair was fair and his eyes were a light shade of blue. It could almost pass as the sheriff's brother.

Mira nodded, saying, "It wasn't too far off from where she found Emma. I don't know if it's still there or not."

Everyone cleared the diner and followed Emma and Mira out. On the way, she learned the names of the two men. David was Emma's father, who was also Prince Charming, the connection she already made in her head, and Killian was Emma's significant other judging by the body language.

She kept eying his hook and barely suppressed a smirk when she realized who he was. "So you're supposed to be Captain Hook, right?"

Killian grinned slightly. "The one and only."

"Huh," was all Mira said.

The pirate's eyes narrowed. "What's with the 'huh'?"

"Oh, no reason," the brunette commented. She looked at him with an assessing look before asking, "I'm just used to the red coat and the bad perm, that's all."

From her left, she heard Emma snort, and her grin widened.

The ice queen introduced herself, and Mira, with no mouth to brain filter to speak of, said she knew who she was.

Brows furrowed, Elsa asked, "And how do you know me?"

Mira bit her lip, deliberating whether or not she was going to say anything, before she ended up saying, "There was a movie."

"A… what?" Elsa asked, bewildered.

"It was really good!" Mira assured her. "You didn't have a bad perm, unlike others."

"So I take it perms aren't considered good in this world," Killian remarked. "I've been hearing that a lot." He tossed Emma a look, and she shrugged.

"Don't blame me, blame Disney," she replied, grinning as Mira giggled over the others' confused looks.

As the daylight grew dimmer, they got closer to the location when she reached inside of her bag and handed them a few flashlights. It was a perk to having a bag that was bigger on the inside. All she said at their questioning looks that it didn't hurt to be prepared. Soon enough they came across the truck and started pulling the vines and branches away from it. Once it was clear, Mira stepped away from the truck to let them break into it, remembering how she had been thrown the first time.

She walked over to a nearby stump and sat down as Emma, Killian, Ruby, and Elsa attempted to break into the truck. The book was still out when she had confronted Emma with it, and she found herself reopening it. There was still enough light out so she didn't have to use the flashlight. She opened to the page where to Snow White and Prince Charming's wedding, spotting David as the dashing prince easily.

"I remember that day."

Looking up, Mira saw David peering over her shoulder with a fond, almost wistful smile on his face as he studied the picture. "That was my and Snow's wedding day until of course the Evil Queen made her grand entrance and spoiled the mood."

"Yeah, that's the part I don't get," she remarked. "How can you be friends with the person that cursed everyone in the first place?"

He eased down onto the stump beside her as he answered, "People tend to be complicated. They can change, whether for the better or the worse. We've grown accustomed to Regina's ways, however misguided they tend to be. You just don't know her like we do."

"I'll say," she murmured dryly. She flipped to another page, trying to understand how such a world ever existed. She had been to planets where dogs had no noses, and people bartered and traded powers like they were goods. How could fairytales actually be real?

"With all the introductions and the excitement, you've never told us anything about yourself," David said. "Like how you got here, or if anyone's looking for you?"

She tensed at the questions. It wasn't that she didn't want to answer them exactly, it was more that she couldn't. The answers weren't there to find. "There really isn't much to tell," she began with a sigh. "I fell through a portal and wound up here. Don't ask me how or why, but I woke up in the middle of a forest outside a town where fairytales are actually real. It's a little bewildering to be honest, and I have seen a lot of strange stuff in my life."

"Fair enough," he conceded. She looked up and noticed he was wearing a sympathetic expression on his face. "You just seem pretty young to be out on your own, that's all."

"I'm sixteen," Mira responded, not quite as defensively as she felt. Sixteen seemed like a perfectly normal age to be independent, or at least in her mind it was.

"Sixteen?" David asked in disbelief. "That's awfully young to be by yourself."

"Well, it was sort of an accident," she began, fidgeting slightly. "My family and I are sort of time travelers." At his questioning expression, she continued, "We've traveled through space and time for pretty much all of my life. Our latest stop was on this planet that was celebrating its cultural equinox when a black hole appeared. It was threatening to suck the planet in so my dad, his girlfriend, and I went to intervene. We were on this metal bridge between the earth and it when I fell into it. I… don't remember much else."

Mira wasn't sure why she was telling him all of this, but there was something about the man that made her feel comfortable around him. There was something almost grandpa-like about him, which was odd given that he didn't look older than his mid-thirties at the most.

Still a little surprised by her brief explanation, he replied, "It sounds like you guys do this a lot."

She nodded as a fond smile spread across her lips, becoming more wistful as she replied, "Yeah, we do. Adventures are what we do."

"Well, you aren't going to be short on those here." Both she and David looked up as Ruby came down to meet them, wiping her dusty hands on the front of her jeans.

"Did you find anything?" David asked, watching as the waitress leaned against the tree in a huff.

"Yeah. The Snow Queen's been keeping her stash in the truck the entire time, though it doesn't seem to be anything relevant," Ruby commented. "It's mostly a bunch of receipts, business transactions, and other stuff to do with the ice cream shop."

"That's impossible. The shop isn't even registered in Storybrooke's business directory," David countered, puzzled.

"Maybe it's what's underneath those transactions she's trying to hide," Mira responded. "Typically, what you're looking for isn't going to be directly on the surface. You have to dig a little deeper to find what you're looking for."

As if on cue, Emma and Killian stepped out of the truck each carrying out a box. Elsa was still in the truck, sifting through some sort of cupboard.

Deciding to give them some privacy, Mira shoved the book into her bag and headed over to the truck to see if she could help the ice queen. She paused within a few feet of it, though, just in case. For some reason when she had tried to open it last time, it all but chucked her into the forest. Maybe since it was unlocked now, it would let her in.

Tensing up, she squeezed her eyes shut as she took a step forward, then another, and one more until she was at the door. She slowly placed her hand on the handle, expecting some sort of electric shock.

When nothing happened, she opened her eyes and let out a small breath before hauling herself into the truck.

"Do you need any help?" she asked, straightening up as much as she could in the small ice cream truck.

Elsa offered her a small smile, replying, "I think I've found all that can be found about her regarding myself. I just wish I could remember what she made me forget."

Mira gave her a sympathetic smile as she got closer to wear she was kneeling and started looking in the small compartments above their heads. "Is there anything you have that acts as hard drive for your memory?"

"I'm… what do you mean?" she asked, curious.

Mira glanced down at her questioning tone. "Do you know of anything that you could store your memory into? There are things like fob watches where a person of a certain species can place their memories into in a moment of crisis." She paused. "Time Lords for example."

"Time Lord," Elsa repeated, sounding out the words with curiosity and confusion. "Is that what you are?"

There was an odd combination of a snort and a laugh that came out of the brunette's mouth, almost like a donkey's bray but far less unattractive. "Ha, uh… um, no. My dad is though. He's told me about the fob watches, and how he's used one once. Maybe you have one, and you just can't remember where?"

"Maybe," Elsa sighed. She placed some piles of paper into a box and started rising to her feet. "I think this is the best I'll be able to find." She paused at the door. "Are you coming?"

"I'll be out in a second," Mira said. She tapped along the metal walls, searching for something hollow. "This is what I live for."

The queen let out a startled laugh. "You're a strange one, aren't you?"

Mira looked over her shoulder and said casually, "I'd like to think of myself more of a diamond in the rough."

The two shared a grin before Elsa gracefully stepped out of the truck to join the others. The brunette continued to explore the truck, peeking into every nook and cranny she could get her hands on.

Finding nothing, she was rising to her feet when something underneath her feet creaked. Tilting her head, she stared down at the floor, pressing her foot against the same spot, and the same noise appeared. Normally, metal didn't creak. It quaked and groaned, but it didn't creak.

She got on her knees and pressed her ear to the cool metal floor, rapping her knuckles every now on then on certain areas of the floor. On her fourth knock, there was a small echo, almost as if it was a hollow sound.

Straightening up, she looked for something, a hint that could help her find an opening. There was a slight gap between middle two panels. If she hadn't been concentrating on finding something, it would've been easily looked over.

At first, she tried prying it open with her fingernails, but it was stubbornly remaining intact. She couldn't use her magic especially what had happened last time, and everyone else was just outside. She made a mental note to ask the Doctor to teach her how to make a sonic screwdriver as she tried to pry it open, growling in irritation when she couldn't get it open.

If only she had something sharp enough to wedge in the gap.

Not being the type of person to throw in the towel, she bit her thumb as she looked around the ice cream truck. "There must be something," she murmured.

She glanced out of the backdoor and saw everyone in a deep discussion. Emma seemed as tense as a piano string. Killian's hand rested at the small of her back, his arm with the hook remaining at his side.

His hook…

Scrambling towards the door, Mira called out, excitement gripping at her, "Hey, Killian!" Everyone turned around to look at her, which seriously, they needed to stop doing that. "I know we just met, but I really need to borrow your hook."


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note:**

**Hey, guys! I'm so sorry for not updating sooner! College has been kicking my ass. Luckily, it's almost over soon!**

**Thank you so much for following, favoriting, and reviewing. It's encouraging me to write even more. **

**This chapter is a bit short, but I wanted to have something up for you guys. I should be getting back into the swing of things from now on.**

**Enjoy! **

* * *

><p>It hadn't taken too long to find out what was below the metal paneling once Killian had gotten it open. Once the cobwebs and dust had been cleared away, a white porcelain vase had been left in its wake. Mira had immediately wanted to open it but had been talked out of it by David, who had said, "Nothing good ever comes out of opening something when you don't know what it is."<p>

They all headed back to town with the new piece of evidence, more than likely heading back to the sheriff's station from Mira's guess. She wasn't sure what to do with herself then, either tag along as the new kid on the block or just head back to the inn. There wasn't enough daylight to return to the forest to check for any residual energy left from the black hole. Even if she could find it, she didn't have a sonic screwdriver to read them.

Feelings of being out of place and unsure were becoming dear old friends to her.

So she stood there awkwardly, tugging the sleeves of Ruby's blue sweater over her hands to warm them as the others walked ahead of her towards the sheriff station. However, Ruby paused and turned around to look at her with a brief, tiny frown on her face before she asked if she was coming as she marched over to collect her.

That made her decision for her.

~8~

Emma couldn't remember for the life of her when she ever felt as horrendously sick as she did now.

The night they returned from the woods with the vase, she had been prepared to work all night trying to figure out what it was when her dad and Killian all but had to drag her away from the sheriff's station to get some rest. Surprisingly, she hadn't fought them on. She had wound up lying down on the bed with the intention of taking a nap and then returning to the station only to reopen her eyes to see the harsh rays of sunlight beaming on her face. Even though it had been the first time she had had a full night's sleep in what felt like months, she had felt more exhausted than ever.

So the pattern continued.

It had been a week since the trip to the forest, a week since the last encounter with the Snow Queen, and Emma felt sick to her stomach quite literally. It was a difficult thing to keep under wraps since she shared an apartment with her parents and Killian, on most days. She tried to remain as discreet as possible, adjusting her sleeping patterns so that when she got ready to head off to the sheriff's station no one would see the almost deathly pallor of her skin or the way her shoulders sagged in constant fatigue.

She couldn't handle the taste of coffee, something she used to be unable to live without. Hot chocolate with cinnamon was quickly making a comeback. Oddly, it seemed to be the only thing she could keep down these days, that and a strange craving for apples.

Going through the files that were found in the ice cream truck, Emma was so consumed with her work she neglected to hear the front door open as someone called out her name. She flipped through old art projects she had done as a child, wondering how this woman managed to keep these over the years when someone said, "You know, for someone who's supposedly the sheriff, you really need to pay more attention to who waltzes in and out of your office."

Emma snorted as she looked up to see Ruby leaning against the doorframe, giving her a look torn between exasperation and amusement. "I take it someone sent you to check on me."

"I resent that. Can't a girl just check in on her best friend without being put up to it?" she asked, feigning hurt. At Emma's look, she dropped the act, adding, "Okay fine. Maybe Charming did sort of imply that I should check on you, but it was a matter of time before I would've done it anyway."

"Uh huh," Emma remarked, lips quirking into a tired smile. She noticed the to-go box in her hands and asked, "And I suppose you just happened to be on your lunch break when my dad asked you to check on me."

Ruby scoffed lightly as she pushed herself away from the door and plopped down into the seat across from the sheriff's desk. "He would know better than to interrupt my lunch break. I'm playing hooky." She slid the box across the desk. "This was freshly made for you."

Emma vaguely felt her stomach pull an odd combination of growling in hunger and recoiling at the mere mention of food so she remained cautious. "You can tell Granny and whoever cooked this I appreciate the thought and the offer, but I really can't eat anything right now. I'm busy with all of this… stuff." She lifted the cardboard box and gestured to the other case files around her desk for emphasis. "That doesn't include the vase we found."

"Listen, Emma. This is important, and we all get that," Ruby said, "but you really need take better care of yourself. Everyone's concerned about you. We're starting to call you the Blur."

"The Blur?" Emma echoed, confusion filling her face.

Ruby shrugged. "You know, how you're always running about, barely stopping to tell anyone where you're going let alone to take a break. That kind of blur."

"Ah," was all she said. She took a sip of her hot chocolate, which had long since grown cold. She barely suppressed a grimace as she set it aside as far away from herself as possible.

Ruby's eyes narrowed. "You're eating whether you like it or not." Getting up from her seat, she took the box and the files off Emma's desk, practically leaving the surface completely bare except for the lunch container. She would've put up more of a fight if she had the energy.

"Fine. Whatever." She gave in and opened the container. The strong odor of grease and salt wafting through her nostrils. Weeks ago, she would've drooled over the beautifully unhealthy burger and fries, but now her stomach all but jumped out of her and headed for the hills.

"Great! I'll grab a soda from the vending machine," Ruby replied cheerfully and bounced out of the office.

"I hate you!" she called after her.

"No, you don't!" the waitress shouted back as she rounded the corner, leaving the sheriff to eye the lunch as warily as a potential suspect of a crime.

She hadn't eaten anything substantial in what she felt like days. Maybe the lunch wouldn't kill her too much.

Cautiously, she took on of the fries, which were fresh and crispy and positively steaming, and plopped one into her mouth. She chewed thoughtfully and swallowed, pausing to see if anything bad was going to happen. When nothing did, her stomach growled in approval, and she proceeded to devour the lunch, just short of looking like a depraved person.

She had inhaled all of the fries and started working on the burger when Ruby returned with a can of Sprite in her hands.

"Oh, wow. You really were hungry," she commented, eyes widening in surprise.

Emma felt her cheeks heat up in embarrassment but couldn't fully allow herself to feel shame since it was the first time in days where she had real food in her stomach. "Yeah, this is the first real meal I've been able to actually eat. It's liberating."

Ruby's face twisted with concern. "Days? You haven't eaten in days?"

The sheriff shrugged after she took a bite of her burger, wiping off the bit of ketchup that dribbled along her chin and sucked it off her pinky. "I've had apples so technically I have."

The waitress snorted. "Yeah, if you're Regina, and even then, that's deadly. I wouldn't trust an apple around here as far as I could throw a football."

Feeling overwhelmingly full, Emma put the half eaten burger into the container and shut it, wiping the grease and salt off her fingers with a napkin before throwing it away in the trash bin. When Ruby offered her the soda, she vigorously shook her head. "I don't think I can handle that. My stomach might declare mutiny."

"Have you seen a doctor about this? As you've said, you haven't eaten in days apart from apples," Ruby said, giving her a pointed glare at the end.

Emma gave her an incredulous look. "And have everyone in town know about it? I don't think so. Besides, I think it was just a bug. Clearly, it's passed."

Ruby looked at her doubtfully but conceded. They wound up discussing mostly trivial things, which was a nice break from the whole Snow Queen drama. The waitress was just about to regal her about the night she tried to flirt her way out of paying her bar tab when Emma's stomach gave a giant lurch, prompting the sheriff to bolt from her seat and rush out of the small office towards the bathroom, hand covering her mouth as a violent wave of nausea overwhelmed her.

She barely had time to close the door behind her when she launched herself towards the toilet, emptying her stomach of all its contents and then some. Brushing her hair back as much as she could, she gasped and coughed up even more into the toilet. What else could her body be trying to get rid of?

"Emma?" Ruby called out from outside the bathroom. She sounded so worried that she couldn't help but flinch, pressing her suddenly warm forehead against the cool porcelain.

Her entire body felt weary and heavy to the point she wondered how she even had the energy to crawl over to the sink to rinse her mouth out with water.

"Emma?" she called again, this time followed by an insistent knock. Emma merely groaned in response, which prompted Ruby to open the door and slip into the bathroom.

Taking one look at the scene before her, Ruby folded her arms across her chest and looked as every bit as a chiding parent as she commented, "Yes, _clearly_ it has passed."

Lifting her hand, she gave her friend the middle finger and was about to retort when she felt a pressure build up at her throat and threw herself at the toilet again, gasping and cursing audibly as Ruby rubbed her back soothingly. Once she was done, she collapsed against the wall, barely aware of the sound of the flushing toilet when cool hands pressed against her face. "Don't you think you should visit a doctor now?"

Emma sighed as Ruby pressed a cup of water into her hands. "Maybe you're right."

It was decided that it was probably for the best to consult with a doctor. However, Emma refused to see Dr. Whale or any other doctor in Storybrooke. News of her visit would spread across town and eventually reach the ears of her parents and her newly official boyfriend. She didn't want them to worry about her more than they already had to. Besides, it wasn't as if it could be anything serious.

So, with Ruby at her side, Emma made an appointment for the following day around noon at a doctor's office that was a couple of towns over. If she left early enough in the morning, she would probably be able to make it there and back without anyone making too much of a fuss.

"I really hate to ask, but I was sort of hoping you would go with me," Emma said, warming her hands around a cup of hot chocolate sprinkled with cinnamon. She tried to remain calm and collected, but a twinge of nervousness still showed in her face.

Ruby smiled in sympathy. "You know I would go with you in a heartbeat, but we're not even sure if I would be able to cross the boundary without losing my memory. At least you can." She took a sip of her coffee and paused in mid-sip when a thought occurred to her. "Hey. What about Mira?"

"What about her?" the sheriff asked, scribbling a note in the margins of a file.

"You should take her with you." Emma's head snapped up at that, eying her incredulously before Ruby continued, "I mean, technically, she doesn't seem to be cursed otherwise she would've been here much longer than a week. It seems like she can come and go as she pleases."

"That's assuming she can leave at all," she remarked, leaning back in her rolling chair. The thought hadn't crossed her mind. If Mira wasn't one of the cursed, why in the hell was she there in the first place? It seemed like the logical thing to do, both for personal reasons and as a test of some sort. If the teenager could cross the border out of town, maybe they could find her parents, but then again, that didn't answer the question of why she was there in the first place. "I'll talk to her, but I can't make any promises."

Ruby snorted. "I can. The little thing seems about as stir crazy as ever. She organized Granny's bookshelves in the living area by title, author, and genre. I think getting her out would do some good."

After they finished at the station, the two women went their separate ways, Ruby back to the Granny's and Emma back to her apartment, or at least that was where she had intended to go. Somehow her feet managed to bring her down the all too familiar path to the former Storybrooke mayor's house without her even thinking about it. When she realized, she immediately froze and tensed.

There was a reason why she had been avoiding Regina on most days when she could help it. She couldn't help feeling responsible for splitting up her and Robin by unknowingly bringing back Marian. It was one of the incredibly rare times that she saw the other woman happy, and she wrecked it for her, as unintentional as it was. It was strange for Emma to feel guilt over causing Regina any unhappiness given the history of their strenuous relationship, if you could even call it a relationship.

Her boots felt like lead as she approached the estate, knowing it was too late to turn back now.

As soon as she was on the porch, the sheriff lifted a hand to knock when she noticed the door was slightly ajar. Cautiously, she eased the door open with one hand while slowly reaching for her gun with the other. She entered the foyer, which was as flawless and pristine as ever so she mentally crossed off a potential break in off her list, easing the door shut behind her.

She searched around cautiously anyway before making her way to Regina's office, spotting the mayor sitting at her desk through the open doorway.

"If you're going to be lurking in my doorway, you might as well come in, Ms. Swan," Regina called out dryly, eyes focused on the book in front of her.

Emma stepped inside of the office and walked further into the spacious room, the lead feeling in her feet not easing for a moment. There were several books scattered along Regina's desk, ranging from old and worn out to practically ancient. They were old magic books of some sort.

Her gaze turned to Marian, who was still lying unconscious on the settee, iced over and not appearing to have thawed in the least. "Have you made any progress?" she asked, still observing Marian with concern.

Slamming the book with more force than was necessary, the sheriff's attention was drawn back to Regina, who pressed her face into her hands in agitation. "No. I've been scouring these books all night and day for the past few weeks. There is nothing about curing a frozen heart." She looked up at Emma, hands returning to her books, eyes narrowing slightly. "Speaking of which, why are you here?"

Clenching her jaw in irritation, Emma let the snide comment slide and replied, "I wanted to check in on Marian and see how you were. This must be difficult for you."

"As if you care," the mayor retorted bitterly. "You're the reason Marian's like this in the first place."

Feeling as if she had been slapped, the sheriff demanded, "How on earth do you figure that?"

Pushing the book aside, Regina leaned back in her seat and fixed her with a glare. "If you and your pirate boyfriend hadn't returned with her, none of this would've happened. Marian wouldn't be fighting for her life, and Robin would –"

"Be with you," Emma finished for her, the telltale signs of guilt still tugging at her as Regina's face became carefully neutral. "I am sorry for that, but I can't keep apologizing for saving someone's life. Even though you may not consider me a friend, I consider you as one. Hopefully, one day you can look past the intense desire to kill me to realize what I'm telling you is the truth."

It was useless talking to the woman, who hated her so deeply to the core. How could she ask her about Mira when she probably wouldn't get a straight answer in the first place? With a sigh, she turned on her heel, heading towards the door, not knowing why she bothered showing up in the first place when…

"Emma," Regina called for her, sounding every bit as tired as she claimed to be.

The sheriff paused in her retreat, stiffening as she finally called her by her first name and not "Ms. Swan."

She heard the mayor sigh. "I don't… _want_ to kill you."

Turning around, she watched as Regina's face struggled with a series of emotions she couldn't decipher but still replied anyway, "Well, that's a start."

She made some noise between a snort and a huff, an odd combination choice, but asked, "Not to sound too crass, but are those the only reasons you came here?"

"Well," Emma began, returning further into the room. "I was just curious about how the borders worked, keeping Storybrooke hidden, I mean."

"Ah," Regina said and gave her an inquisitive look. She was probably wondering why she was asking but was allowing her to speak.

"Do they still protect the town? If someone from Storybrooke was to crossover the border, would they lose their memory, and can outsiders come in?" Emma placed her hands on the back of the chair in front of the desk, leaning against the plush leather seats slightly.

"The magic along the borders of Storybrooke are still fully intact the last time I checked," Regina replied, "And yes, anyone that was brought over from the Enchanted Forest is susceptible to losing their memories if they cross over, which unfortunately is a consequence of that type of magic. For an outsider to be in Storybrooke, they wouldn't be able to find the town. I changed the spell so that no outsider can find or enter Storybrooke."

"Are you sure? Can there be some loophole that you may have overlooked?" Emma asked, confusion coloring her voice.

The mayor frowned. "No. There shouldn't be. Since I cast that spell that made you forget your memories last year, I've made sure the magic protecting the town was under lock and key. There's no one here that shouldn't be."

Well, there went that theory.

"Thank you for your time. I'll let you… ah, return to what you were doing," Emma said before turning and heading towards the door.

"Is there something I should know about?" Regina asked.

The sheriff looked over her shoulder and noticed the hint of suspicion in her face. For some reason unknown to herself, she felt incredibly uneasy at the idea of bringing up Mira. She couldn't put her finger on why, but she just knew it wouldn't be a good idea. She shook her head, saying, "No. It's just for future reference."

"All right," Regina responded, almost disbelievingly. Before Emma left, she added, "But whatever it is you're hiding, I will find out about it. One way or another."

"I have nothing to hide," Emma insisted.

"Then we have no problem." The mayor smiled pleasantly, a little too saccharine to be real; Emma remained on guard. "I'll see you around, Emma."

The sheriff wasted no time in heading out of the room and leaving the house, relishing in the cool brisk hair that felt warmer than the reception in that house. She headed in the direction towards home, wondering all the while if she was making a huge mistake.


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Note: Hey, guys! I'm sorry for the long delay. Between college finals and Christmas and New Years, I've been distracted and crazy busy. I think I've gotten pass back into the swing of these writing-wise (which is sort of badly timed since I resume classes in two weeks).**

**Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy this! I'm sorry if it's a little dull at the moment, but things should be picking up quickly in the next few chapters I have planned out.**

* * *

><p>Since finding the truck in the forest, Mira found herself spending more time with the people she mentally dubbed Storybrooke's favorite characters.<p>

She and Ruby were getting along even better now that the bigger secrets were now out on the table. She felt more at ease around her, even when she learned that little red riding hood was a wolf in red silk clothing.

If you were accustomed to seeing all of the things she had seen in her relatively shorter lifetime, you really wouldn't be surprised either. In fact, she wound up telling her about the time the Doctor and one of his former companions (she couldn't really remember who so she must have been irrelevant) discovered that Queen Victoria of England was a potential werewolf herself, drawing in Elsa and David whose curiosity lured them in.

Elsa was another person Mira had grown to become incredibly fond of. It was funny because she had been expecting to be completely gaga for Anna since she was her favorite in the movie, and yes, she was still excited to meet her, but the ice queen had quickly won her over. They talked about Arendale, and what the kingdom was like. She hadn't been to many aristocratic kingdoms that resembled Arendale, and Elsa didn't mind soothing that aching desire to know more, in fact she was more than welcoming enough to share her experiences.

Lately though, she was spending more time with David. There was something about the man that drew her to him. She had opened up to him easily enough in the forest. He was quickly becoming the second person she felt comfortable around to talk about anything with and not feel any judgment.

Mary Margaret on the other hand…

There wasn't much that could put Mira off from liking someone, but Emma's mother didn't appear to be genuine in the way she had greeted her when they had first met. Although it had been a brief encounter, it had been enough for her to remain wary around the woman who was also known as Snow White.

There was one person she hadn't really bonded with yet that she was the most curious about, and she planned to rectify it when she spotted the pirate in Granny's.

On her lunch break, she slipped into the booth and asked Ruby for a hot chocolate with cinnamon when the waitress commented wryly that was Emma's favorite way of drinking hot chocolate, too before heading off to make a cup.

She spotted Killian retrieving the darts for the dartboard and immediately put her plan into play. Innocently, she asked about the darts, which slowly resulted in her admitting she had never played before and broached the idea if he could show her how to play.

Thirty minutes later, she and the pirate were engaged in what could only be described as strategic warfare. Of course she knew how to play darts, and she was playing him like a fiddle, which Killian soon picked up on when not even ten minutes into his teaching her dart landed in the closest ring to the bull's eye.

"You can't outfox a pirate, love," he remarked with a smirk. He aimed for the dartboard, grinning triumphantly as he hit dead close to center. He held out his hands tauntingly in his victory. Mira rolled her eyes with an amused smirk. Beneath the whole badass pirate façade, he was just a giant kid. She liked him already.

"Pft," Mira said as she swapped places with him, twirling the dart in between her index finger and thumb, "Clearly, you're not familiar with Captain Jack Sparrow." Before he could ask who that was, she threw the dart, which landed on the bull's eye with precise, deadly accuracy. She threw her arms up in the air, turning to see his stunned face and crowed, "Yeah!"

"Did you just hustle me?" Killian asked, bewildered.

"Maybe," Mira replied, grinning from ear to ear. "Who's the captain now?"

From the corner, Ruby started cracking up, making Killian scowl halfheartedly and Mira grin even more. "I can assure you, I may not have my ship, but I will always be the captain."

Mira commented, "You don't have a hat."

He turned around and pointed at her sternly, "Real captains don't need hats."

"Well, this one does," she replied, proceeding to make a captain's hat out of a napkin. Once it was finished, she put it on her head just as Ruby was bringing her a second cup of hot chocolate. "For the winner," she whispered with a wink, loud enough for Killian to overhear.

"You look ridiculous," he commented dryly, lips quirking into a barely concealable smile as Mira sported her hat.

"Jealousy does not become you," she chirped, still grinning as the diner doorbell jingled as it was opened. She spotted the sheriff walking in just as Killian was ready to make another attempt at the dartboard. "Hey, Emma!"

"Oh, nice try," Killian remarked, getting ready to aim at the dartboard. "Using my girl as a distracting tactic."

He released the dart just as the sheriff asked, "Who's a distracting tactic?" missing the board almost entirely,

Mira smirked and turned around to give them some semblance of privacy to whatever flirty banter they had going. She took a sip of her hot chocolate, savoring the taste of the cinnamon swirling with the chocolaty taste.

"I just wanted to tell you before anyone else that I'm heading out of Storybrooke for a day, maybe two," she heard Emma say just within earshot.

There was a short pause before Killian replied in a neutral tone, "You're leaving?"

"Yes but only for a day or two," she repeated. And then, more quietly, "I'm not running away. My home is here… with you."

Mira was tempted to turn around and see his reaction to that, but even she had the decency to at least pretend she wasn't listening. After a moment or two, he asked her where she was going and what the purpose was behind the trip. She couldn't quite pick up where she was going; somewhere within the state was all she could make out. The trip was following a lead on the Snow Queen, but Mira wasn't sure that sounded altogether true. Why would information on the Snow Queen be out of town? It didn't seem like too many fairytale characters roamed about Maine.

"I'll come with you, then. Just in case things get a little out of hand," Killian offered.

"You can't," Emma replied. "Anyone that crosses the borders loses their memories of who they are. I talked to Regina, and she said that the spell was back intact when she cast it last year. I'll be fine."

"But you can't go alone," Killian insisted.

"I'm not. Actually, that's what I came here for." Mira felt two fingers tap on her shoulder, prompting her to turn to see Emma giving her an amused knowing look. "Don't pretend you weren't trying to listen."

Mira's eyes widened innocently, and Killian snorted at the sight. "I didn't hear anything."

"I'm sure," Emma remarked. She shoved her hands into her jean pockets when she added, "I actually came here to run something by you. It's about the things you clearly didn't overhear."

Perking up, the brunette dropped the innocent act and asked, "Are you asking me to go with you?"

"If you don't mind."

"No! Not at all," Mira said. "It's just that… you don't know me that well. What if I were a serial killer or something?"

Emma lifted an eyebrow as she smiled in amusement. "I highly doubt that, but I think I can take you."

Since Mira already had Emma's number from Ruby, she decided to give the sheriff hers. She grabbed a pen from her bag and wrote down her number on her napkin hat before handing it over, telling her to text her where to meet.

~8~

It turned out where and when Emma wanted to meet was at Granny's Inn at the ass crack of dawn.

Mira let out a muffled groan as her phone went off with that annoying beeping sound of her text message tone. Groggily, she blindly reached for the phone, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes as she read the message: I'm in the lobby.

"Fuck my life," she complained and hauled herself out of bed. She went to the bathroom and quickly splashed some water on her face, not having the time to take an actual shower. She finished doing a Vine rendition of her morning routine and quickly changed out of her t-shirt and shorts into a pair of Ruby's snug jeans and a tight green sweater with her own boots and jacket. On this road trip of theirs, she made a mental note to stop at a store to buy some more clothes. She had more than enough money since she started working at the library.

Mira grabbed her bag, slinging it over her shoulder and locking the door to her room behind her before walking out to the lobby where she saw Emma leaning against the reception desk, looking tired and drawn. It was probably what she looked like right then.

When she saw her come in, Emma pushed off the desk and smiled slightly. "Ready?"

Mira nodded, sighing slightly. "We need to grab coffee before we go, otherwise I don't think I can make it."

"Already beat you to it," the sheriff replied, handing her a coffee cup that was probably from Granny's. "Normally, we'd have breakfast before we go, but this is sort of a time sensitive issue."

"We can stop at the first Waffle House on the way," Mira remarked. "God, I miss Waffle House."

The morning was dark and gray as they got into Emma's yellow bug. Greedily drinking in the smell of fresh coffee from her cup, the brunette took a sip, then two, and almost downed the entire cup by the time they were driving up to the Leaving Storybrooke road sign.

"You're a little caffeine addict, aren't you?" Emma noted, her lips quirking into a smile.

Mira grinned. "I'm sure it's genetic. My dad and Clara practically live on tea since they're British and all."

Picking up on the undercurrent of her words, Emma pieced it together. "So you are adopted?"

The brunette nodded. "Yeah." She tilted her head, almost resembling a curious puppy. "Is it that obvious?"

"It was a lucky guess," Emma replied. She paused before adding, "Plus, it's easy to tell when you've got experience in the foster system. You tend to pick up on things."

Mira nodded. "I was wondering about that. Unless your parents had you when they were, like, ten, there had to be something going on there."

Emma snorted. "I already mentioned to you about them sending me through portal to keep me safe. I'm not sure how time passed in Storybrooke after Regina's curse. It's all a little…" Overwhelming, surreal…

"Timey wimey nonsense?" Mira supplied. When the sheriff gave her an inquiring look, she added, "It's what my dad says. I just added the nonsense. He does speak a lot of nonsense a good bit of the time. It's one of the reasons why we love him, Clara and I."

Emma smiled softly and nodded. "I definitely like that phrase."

They drove almost the rest of the way in silence, with the exception for the radio. The station played songs ranging from anything relatively current to some random shit from the '80s or '90s that no one ever heard of.

After the yellow bug merged onto the interstate, they were beginning to see more buildings and less trees, random businesses that Mira made an offhand comment about probably being adult entertainment centers. The buildings were bland looking and made of some sort of metal, and the signs weren't that helpful in advertising.

"I still say it's a sex shop," she said as they drove past yet another one.

"Unless it explicitly says it, I doubt it very much," Emma remarked.

Mira shrugged. "You never know. It's sketchy."

About twenty minutes later, a Waffle House greeted them in the distance. Their stomachs practically growled in unison. Emma eased into the turning lane and drove over so they could get something to eat.

The place was tiny and sort of cluttered, but that was basically the franchise design. Mira loved it. They sat at a booth near the restroom and close to the jukebox.

One of the cooks approached them, greeting them cheerfully and asked them what they would like to drink. Emma ordered another coffee while Mira decided on an orange juice.

"I need to keep my girlish figure," Mira remarked, grinning as the sheriff huffed.

They were looking over their menus when Emma said, "I'm guessing you're wondering why we're on this trip."

Glancing up from her menu, the brunette responded, "I was sort of wondering, but I didn't want to pry. I'm assuming it has nothing to do with the Snow Queen?"

She shook her head slowly. "No, it really doesn't."

The cook came back to them and asked if they were ready to order after placing their beverages in front of them. While Emma seemed a bit hesitant on what to get, Mira immediately requested a waffle with chocolate chips sprinkled on top with an extra order of bacon and eggs on the side.

After the sheriff placed in her order of a slice of toast and an egg, she gazed at Mira with something almost akin to awe. "What about your girlish figure?"

"My girlish figure wants to eat," Mira said but had the decency to look sheepish about it. "Don't worry. I'm covering my half."

"No, this whole trip is on me," Emma said with a shake of her head. When Mira began to protest, she added, firmly, "I asked you to come so I'm paying, and that's final."

It didn't take long for their food to arrive. The cook set down Emma's first. The plate looked sort of sad, the single fried egg small and maybe a tad overcooked with the two slices of toast on either side. Emma suppressed her frown and looked over to Mira's, which looked more like a feast.

Noting the hungry look on the sheriff's face, Mira pushed her plates towards the center of the table and offered her a spoon, smiling encouragingly. When Emma started to shake her head, Mira said there was no way she could finish it by herself and insisted that she ate some, too. Whether or not she was aware of it, Emma didn't look like she was in the best position to turn down a plate of food.

By the time they were finished, it was a little half past eight. Emma suggested they should probably get back on the road. Wherever they were going expected them at 10 o'clock. It would take at least another hour or so to get there, which left an hour to spare.

She seemed anxious about going so Mira kept her thoughts to herself. After they paid, she ordered two large cups of coffee and brought them out to the bug before they headed off again.

The drive was long, but with the fresh cups of coffee, it was a lot less dreary. Above them, the sky was already turning from that dark, depressing gray to a color more befitting of the ocean floor. Rain wasn't threatening to pour out of the sky, but they couldn't be quite sure just yet.

The traffic began to die down as Emma eased the bug onto the next exit towards Graceland, the town where they were headed. Mira didn't say anything. Instead, she turned on her iPhone and attempted to call the TARDIS. She knew it was pointless, but she hadn't given up on trying yet.

It was barely on the first ring before the call was dropped, along with her hope.

Well. That was the hundredth try.

Slipping her phone back into her bag, Mira eased down further into her seat, trying not to let the disappointment weigh her down as much as the first few dozen times had.

Deciding not to dwell on that, she looked over at the sheriff and picked up where they had left off in the diner, "So you've confirmed that this trip isn't about the freaky ice cream chick?"

Emma, with her gaze focusing on the road, gave a brief nod. "It doesn't." She released a breath. "This is a more… personal matter."

"Ookaayyy?" Mira said, stretching out the word into more syllables than what was probably socially acceptable. "I won't tell anybody if that's what you're worried about."

"It's not that, not that I don't appreciate it," Emma said, throwing a glance in her direction. "But… it's something I'm not even sure about, what the outcome will be. Wow, that sounds much more dramatic than intended."

Mira watched as the sheriff agitatedly ran a hand through her blonde locks before continuing, "Ruby made an appointment for me at a doctor's office in the town we're headed to. I haven't really been feeling all that swell lately, and I thought it would be better to know for sure as opposed to worrying my family and friends for nothing."

"Because everyone likes to talk in Storybrooke," Mira drew the likely conclusion, nodding in understanding. She had only been there for a little while but quickly discovered that Storybrooke was just like the typical small town only with fairytales. It wasn't something she would ever get used to, traveling around in a police telephone box for a majority of her life.

"Right."

Roughly fifteen minutes later, the doctor's office came into view. It wasn't even near ten yet. Out of the corner of her eye, Mira noticed her tensing up. They had plenty of time. She really didn't want Emma to be stressed or nervous while they waited until her appointment time so she brought up going to a clothing store so she could get some clothes, adding a quip or two about not being able to wear Ruby's clothes forever.

Grateful for the distraction, Emma drove past the doctor's office and pulled up to the first little boutique they came across. It was a locally owned business, no corporate brand to be seen. The shop was about the size of a shoe box, but once they were inside, it didn't look half bad.

They shopped around for a good thirty minutes when Mira spotted it. She had already picked up a couple of sweaters, shirts, and jeans when something red caught her attention. Hanging on a rack was a gorgeous red leather jacket, one that was quite similar to the jacket she had seen Emma in on several occasions. She loved that jacket so she easily fell in love with this one. Upon closer examination, she saw the price tag and balked. It cost about the total amount of everything in her arms plus maybe a semester or two of college. (She might have been exaggerating, but it was too much for her to get when she had other things she needed)

Mournfully, Mira left the leather jacket on the rack and went to the dressing room to try everything on. Luckily, everything seemed to fit so she wound up getting them all, absolutely insisting on paying for it herself. She even got a pair of boots and sneakers, too.

By the time they left the store, it was nine forty-five, and it was time to go. In the car, Mira shoved all of her purchases into her trusty bag, barely concealing a laugh when Emma watched in confusion as each bag slipped inside easily.

"It's bigger on the inside," was all Mira said, and the sheriff didn't question it as they pulled into the clinic's parking lot.

Once they were inside, Mira went to sit in one seats in the surprisingly almost completely vacant waiting room while Emma went up to the reception desk to sign in. The woman was nice enough, but her nerves were too frayed to conjure up more than a slight twitch of her lips before sitting down.

She felt incredibly silly and foolish for feeling so nervous. It probably wasn't a big deal. Catching a cold was common, especially in this type of weather, and especially due to the fact you never knew when you would freeze to death or not due to Storybrooke's latest villainous problem of the week. She was going to be fine. In fact, the doctor's visit was going to confirm that, and they would return home as if nothing happened because nothing would.

Or at least that was what she kept trying to convince herself of.

Fiddling with the hem of her sweater sleeve, having already shrugged off her jacket, Emma stared fixedly at the wall, trying not to let her mind run away with her. She tried not to think too much about the slightest, tiniest possibility that something might be wrong, though she couldn't entirely suppress the small voice at the back of her mind.

What if something was actually wrong with her?

Before she could dwell on it further, a nurse poked her head out of the door and called her name. She rose to her feet and left her jacket in the chair next to Mira, who said she would be there when she got out.

The nurse handed her a cup and showed her towards the bathroom. Feeling odd, she did as she was told, and a few minutes later, she popped out, placing the sample into the tray before they continued with the typical doctor visit procedure.

Afterwards, the nurse led her to the first room on the left and told her the doctor would see her shortly, shutting the door behind her.

With a sigh, she sat on the examining table, the white paper crinkling underneath her weight. The walls were a light shade of tan, almost like a caramel color. Adorned on the walls were various qualifications and degrees that were more than likely there to make other people feel inadequate.

Pamphlets and other medical advertisements were stacked neatly around the room ranging from weight loss guides to how to treat an STI, which she really didn't want to examine.

Her fingers began inching towards an odd looking replica of the human anatomy when she heard murmured words outside of her door. She immediately retracted her hand as the door opened.

A woman of slender build and average height, the doctor greeted her with a gentle smile. She appeared to be around her late 40s. There was a touch of gray in her dark hair, making her looked more distinguished with her wire rimmed glasses and her white lab coat.

"Hello, Emma. I'm Dr. Walsh," the doctor introduced herself as she held out her hand.

Emma accepted her hand with a smile and shook it, watching carefully as Dr. Walsh pulled up a rolling stool from under a counter.

"Normally, I would have more tests done on you, but under these circumstances, it's best not to do something like an x-ray… in your condition," she remarked, sitting down.

Emma frowned. "In my condition?"

Clearing her throat, the doctor folded her legs, balancing her clipboard on her knee. "It's a mandatory procedure for patients to submit to a urine analysis, to see if the person is question is on any type of medication or drug." She paused before adding in a rush at the look on Emma's face, "I'm not saying you're on any kind of drug, it's just procedure."

Dr. Walsh paused again, looking over her notes, then asked, "When was the last time you menstruating?" When the sheriff just stared at her, she clarified, "Menstruation meaning when you last had your period…"

"I know what that is," Emma replied, not unkindly. She tried hard to recall the last time she had had one, but her mind was drawing a blank. Slowly, she responded, "I… don't think I can recall an exact date?"

"Do you have a general idea?"

"I don't think I can even give you that," she replied. She had a feeling she knew where this was going but hoped against hope it wasn't the case.

Dr. Walsh nodded and adjusted her glasses. "The reason why we can't perform other tests on you is because there was a certain hormone in your sample that's only detected in women who are pregnant. So in other words –"

"I'm pregnant," Emma finished for her.

The doctor nodded, glancing up from her notes. "It all coincides with your chief complaints: nausea, unable to keep things down, fatigue, dizziness. I believe you're in the early stages of the first trimester. It's not uncommon for women to be caught unawares. Actually, many women don't realize they're pregnant until much later."

Anything else Dr. Walsh was saying faded into a sea of white noise. The only words she could make out were "trimester" and "pregnant", especially the latter. All of the words coming out of the doctor's mouth were nonsense and strange even though on some level she knew what she was saying. It didn't make sense.

She was pregnant.

Suddenly, she felt a pressure on her hands. She started slightly as Dr. Walsh rolled closer.

"I understand it's a lot to take in. If you need any assistance or guidance, there are several pamphlets I can give you," she offered.

Emma opened her mouth and closed it, repeating the action once more, the words refusing to come out until she finally managed to croak, "Are you sure?"

Dr. Walsh gave her a sympathetic smile. "I'm positive."

"No, I'm pretty sure that's me," Emma remarked. The doctor squeezed her hands before she rolled away to grab something from her desk. "How accurate is this test? Is it possible that it could be a false positive?"

"Anything is possible," Dr. Walsh reasoned, "but these tests are the most accurate. It's why we use them to screen our female patients."

Emma nodded wearily. She felt tired all of a sudden, a tiredness that settled deep into her bones and weighed her down. The doctor rose to her feet and excused herself, saying she would be right back before leaving the room as if she hadn't dropped a massive bombshell in her wake.

What was she going to do with this, if it were true? How could she take care of a baby, especially in a town where something always wanted to wreak havoc in everyone's lives? Not once in her life had she ever considered wanting a kid. She knew what it was like to feel unloved and unwanted, to be thrown into the world with no preparation or guidance. There was no way in hell she wanted that for her kid, which was why she never planned on having one.

Until it now it seemed.

She placed her hands on her abdomen, which was smooth and toned but in the next couple of months would expand and soften and balloon as the person inside of her grew. If she were pregnant, which she wasn't.

Was she?

"Fuck," Emma breathed. She pressed the heels of her hands to her eyes. How was she going to tell her parents? Ha. How was she going to tell Killian?

He would never stay. As much as he said he was never going anywhere, Emma had a feeling that news of him becoming a daddy wouldn't exactly make her girlfriend of the year. She was going to have to tell him eventually.

And watch as yet again someone walk out of her life.

She looked up as Dr. Walsh returned with a carefully wrapped item in her hand.

"Normally, I don't do this, but I feel like you need to see it for yourself," she said, handing her the black plastic bag. "It's one of our pregnancy tests. You'll find they're more accurate than what the stores carry.

"I know this is a lot on your plate so I suggest taking a few days to think things over after you take the test. You may not realize it, but you do have options."

For the next hour, they discussed (the doctor discussed while Emma sat practically like a bump on a log) what exactly those options were. All the while she listened, she felt herself becoming overwhelmed. Everything was becoming too much. She just needed to get out, to get out and run away from this. She was no stranger to the desire of running away.

As if she could sense this, Dr. Walsh brought their visit to a close and escorted her out the front where she could check out. She repeated her words from earlier, intending them to be encouraging, but Emma found them to be more worrying than comforting.

Mira rose to her feet as soon as she finished, dropping whatever magazine she had been flipping through back to the table. Emma could tell she was dying to ask how it went but stopped herself from asking. She must have looked more drawn and worried than she realized.

"Do you want me to drive?" the brunette asked quietly.

She looked over at her. "Do you know how to drive?"

Biting her lip, Mira replied, "Honestly, no, but I can learn."

If it had been any other day, Emma would have rejected the offer, but since she felt like she could collapse at any minute, she relented. She got into the passenger's seat as Mira took over, making sure to tell her what was what before they pulled out.

Emma directed her over to a small motel room a few blocks away. She couldn't return to Storybrooke until she could get a grip on herself and to see for herself that it was true.

Without any harm done, Mira turned off the ignition and locked the bug, grabbing her bag before locking the door. Emma booked a room for the night and requested a late check-out. She knew without a doubt she needed the extra sleep.

They got to the room a few minutes later. It was small and dingy. The two double sized beds were made but didn't look as appealing as its counterparts back in Granny's. There was a small television that probably hadn't seen the light of day since the dark ages prior to wireless internet and smartphones. She didn't even want to look in the bathroom.

At least it was available.

When they had everything was settled and Emma was lying on the bed did Mira finally broach the subject, "So what did Dr. Walsh say?"

Squeezing her eyes shut, she tossed over the plastic bag wrapped box, too afraid to say it aloud. She heard the removal of the plastic bag and barely suppressed a flinch at the gasp that soon followed.

"Oh."

Emma made a noise of acknowledgement, pressing her face into the pillow.

She expected a myriad of questions of what she was going to do, how she was going to handle it, and maybe even one or two accusations, _maybe_.

What Emma didn't expect was for the bed to dip beside her, which prompted her to open her eyes and gaze up at the younger girl, whose expression was one of a complete lack of judgment.

"I know we don't know each other that well," Mira said. "But I am here for you, for whatever you need. You've made my life so much easier in the past few weeks with me literally crashing into your town. I'll help you in any way that I can."

Smiling tiredly, Emma patted the space beside her, which the girl took as a cue to lie down beside her. Their gazes focused on the old, rickety fan above their heads, each of them pondering what their futures held for them.

* * *

><p><strong>I really hope you liked this chapter. Let me know what you think! I love hearing your feedback :)<strong>


	7. Chapter 7

Emma sat on the edge of the motel room tub. She stared at the pregnancy stick, which only confirmed what she already knew.

Letting out a sigh, she stood and walked over to the sink, grabbing a face cloth and a bar of soap, and scrubbed at her face vigorously. She splashed some water on her face and padded it dry with another towel. She glanced over at the test again.

It remained the same, no matter how many times she tried to wake herself up.

Wrapping it back in the plastic bag, she tossed it into the waste bin before heading back out into the small room.

Mira had gone out in search of vending machines so she was pretty much left to her own devices. Remembering her phone that she had left in her jacket pocket, she went to retrieve it. She hadn't so much as looked at it once since they left.

When Emma finally turned it on, she was greeted with a flood of missed calls and several text messages. Cursing, she tapped on missed calls and noticed a majority of them were either from her dad or Killian, three were from Mary Margaret, and about one or two were from Ruby. She hated to see what the text messages were like.

Her thumb hovered over the call back button, not certain who to call first. She made a snap decision and brought the phone up to her ear, waiting for the call to go through.

"Emma?" David's voice came through the other line. There was some background noise that came across as well, and she felt like she almost had to strain to hear him.

"Hey, dad," she greeted, her grip tightening slightly on the smartphone.

"Hold on!" There was a bit of shuffling noises before he finally came back. "Sorry. I had to go somewhere quieter."

"Sounds like you're having quite a party in my absence," Emma joked, sitting on the bed.

"Hardly," he remarked. "How are things on your end?"

The sheriff paused. She wasn't sure how much she could honestly tell him without giving herself away. Besides, she couldn't tell anyone before she told Killian. That wouldn't be fair. Well, Mira knew, but there wasn't anything she could do about that now.

"We're still looking, but there may be something." Without thinking, she placed her hand across her abdomen. "Something huge. We're going to spend the night to make sure."

David asked, becoming more alert, "What's the huge something?"

Squeezing her eyes shut, she replied, "I can't really say until it's definite, but… I'm pretty sure it's accurate." Then, because she needed the distraction, she added, "How are things on the home front?"

Her dad let out a laugh, one that was equal parts of confusion and amusement. "Well, I think we may have one or two surprises when you and Mira return."

Tensing up, Emma asked, "Did something happen?"

"Oh, no! Nothing to do with that," he rushed to reassure her. "Someone else has stumbled into Storybrooke. We haven't gotten a name yet. The woman isn't exactly being cooperative."

"Someone else's in Storybrooke?" Emma said, puzzled. "I spoke with Regina, and she said that no one can be in town if they weren't meant to be there."

"I think she's right on that. This woman clearly isn't from here. She may not be from the Enchanted Forest, but she's definitely from a different world," David replied. "Though that doesn't explain much about the girl you're with now."

Emma felt an odd swell of protectiveness at his tone and couldn't stop herself from saying, "She isn't the problem, David."

Lately, she had taken to calling her parents "mom" and "dad". Rarely did she use their Storybrooke names unless provoked into doing so. Both of them noticed.

"I'm not saying she is a problem," he said calmly. "It's just we don't know that much about her apart from what she's told us. She's a time traveler along with her parents and travels around. That's all we know."

"I feel like I have a good sense of people. The girl isn't trouble," Emma remarked just as calmly, her fingers clenching the fabric of her shirt.

She heard him sigh through the phone and almost felt guilty about getting defensive. Why she felt that way she couldn't say.

"There's nothing wrong with being cautious," David said. He murmured something she couldn't hear, possibly a conversation with somebody else before he returned to the call. "I'm sorry, but I have to go. We're going to try to learn more about her and see if we can help."

"All right," Emma remarked, still feeling tense. "I'll call you when we're on our way back."

"Okay." And then, "Call Killian when you get the chance. He's being more irritable than usual. Talk to him before I throw him in the cell."

She giggled in spite of herself as she bit into her thumb. As soon as she ended the call, she tossed the phone somewhere onto the side table and plopped down onto the bed.

It didn't seem real to her, carrying someone inside of her. A little person that would need and depend on her, something she never really experienced in her own life. Emma was a survivor, never relying on others to take care of her. Now there was going to be someone that would need everything she had been deprived of.

Was she prepared for that?

Before Emma could ponder the thought any further, the motel room door opened, and Mira slipped inside, two handfuls of chips, candy, and soda. The door shut with a light nudge of her foot when she paused, glancing at the items in her hands and remarking, "You know, this may not be good for the baby."

"Well, the baby's not complaining so neither am I," Emma remarked. Mira handed her a bag of Lay's sour cream and onion flavor. She eyed it dubiously before opening it. "I'll find out whether or not Baby objects."

It turned out Baby didn't object. In fact, Baby liked it a lot, so much so that the sheriff practically devoured the bag plus two small bags of Doritos and a chocolate bar. And she kept it down. Oh what a miracle that was!

About an hour and several reruns of terrible sitcoms later, they climbed into their own beds and slept until the alarm went off on Emma's phone. She told Mira that they needed to go as soon as possible, late check-out be damned. She needed to see for herself the new person who was not in Storybrooke wasn't a threat, to her family and friends and the town at large.

Having not anticipated an overnight trip, there was little to pack or to clean up so they left pretty quickly. The receptionist at the counter was surprised to see them out so early because of Emma's request, but when Emma flashed her credit card, the surprise was squelched and soon they were on their way back.

~8~

On their way back to Storybrooke, they pulled through a Dunkin' Donuts drive thru to grab some coffees and a few donuts, eating breakfast on the road. The drive out was a lot slower than the drive back given they didn't make as many stops and Emma's persistently heavy foot on the gas pedal.

It was high noon by the time the yellow bug drove back past the "Welcome to Storybrooke" sign. Mira fiddled with the strap of her bag as the trees passed by in a blur. She couldn't help but wonder how this new plot development would shake things up. Was Emma going to keep the baby? Who was she going to tell? Would she tell Killian?

She had the decency not to ask, but that didn't stop her curious mind from reeling with questions. It wasn't any of her business since it didn't involve her, but she hoped the outcome of whatever happened next turned out for the best.

Emma called David and said they were on their way. He told them they were at the sheriff's station to which the sheriff immediately responded, "I really hope you didn't put him in the cell." Mira could hear his chuckle through the phone as he commented before the call ended.

Once they were at the sheriff's station, Emma shut off the engine but didn't pull the keys out of the ignition. There was a moment of silence in the car, neither of them sure what to do next.

"Is there anything you want me to say or do?" Mira asked hesitantly, glancing at the sheriff.

Heaving out a sigh, Emma loosened her grip on the steering wheel little by little until she looked over at her. "Just follow my lead." She stuffed the keys into her pocket, grabbed her jacket, and exited the bug to start heading for the sheriff's office, Mira hot at her heels.

David, Mary Margaret, Killian, Ruby, and Leroy were nearby, appearing to be in some sort of discussion. Out of the blue, a woman with short dark hair and dressed in a neat gray pencil skirt dress and dark heels joined into the discussion. She looked familiar to Mira. Her mind immediately flashed back to the fairytale book.

She was about to follow Emma over to the group when the sheriff blocked her path with her arm. Mira lifted an eyebrow inquisitively, but she shook her head, whispering, "Stay here," and resumed rounding the corner.

Frowning at the command, Mira obliged, but that didn't stop her from pressing her ear forward to listen in.

"Ah, welcome back, Ms. Swan," the woman spoke, almost saccharine in her dry delivery. "Enjoy your little road trip?"

"As a matter of fact, not really, but I'm here to discuss business, not have you poking around one that's not any of your concern," Emma replied. If there was no danger of her getting caught, Mira would've made a cracking sound of a whip.

"Technically, the purpose of your trip was to find more information on the Snow Queen so it is my concern," the woman remarked. "In fact, I'd say it's all of our concern."

Mira dared a quick peek around the corner to see that Emma's back was tense as she stared the woman down but at the same time tried to remain civil. "I think our more pressing issue is the new person in town." She looked over at her dad and asked, "Where is this woman?"

The prince made some sort of gesture with his head, cuing them to walk in the direction he gestured towards. Huffing in irritation, Mira glanced around the hallway trying to find a place where she could look in without getting caught. If there was anything she was good at, listening in on things she wasn't supposed to hear was definitely high on her list of talents.

She went down the opposite corner, closer toward the office area when she heard voices picking up again.

"… but the cell, really?"

Ah ha! Success! Tilting her head ever so slightly, Mira observed as Emma took a step forward, arms folded over her chest.

"We weren't sure what to do with her," Mary Margaret said.

The sheriff rolled her eyes. "So the obvious solution was the cell to hold her, interrogate her like a criminal?"

"To be fair, love, when I first came to Storybrooke, you locked me in the very same cell," Killian remarked, though not as defensive as her mother. In fact, there was a slight teasing undertone to his words, and Mira could barely hold back a snort.

"And to keep up with the fairness, it was because of your vendetta against Gold," Emma replied. She added, "Besides, I'm sure that's not the first cell you've ever been in, captain."

"Enough with the flirtatious banter," Leroy declared in an annoyed harrumphed. "What are we going to do here?"

The neatly groomed women remarked with disdain, "We? Since when are you apart of this group?"

Leroy retorted, "Since I've been trying to help the townspeople with everything since we gained back our memories from when we were cursed, which as I recall, was your doing."

"Enough! All right?" David mediated. Inching a bit closer, she watched as he stepped in between the dark haired woman and Leroy, who were glaring daggers at each other. If looks could kill… "This isn't solving anything. I suggest that we keep an eye on her for the time being until she proves not to be a threat, then we can discuss what to do from here."

Emma looked at him and asked, "So you think the best course of action is to keep her locked up for the night?"

Exchanging a look with Mary Margaret, he replied after a beat, "Just for the night. It seems like a logical plan."

Mira didn't stick around and see what Emma said about that. Instead, she turned around and headed in the direction of the cell.

It was going to be difficult, but she wanted to remain as concealed as she could. She had already met Leroy and was already friendly-ish with the others. Apparently, Emma didn't think meeting this woman in the tailored clothes was a good idea. She made a mental note to come back to that as she carried on.

The closer she came to the cell, the better the look she was able to see inside.

On the floor, curled up with her arms wrapped around her knees, was a woman with hair much longer and darker than her own, straight and smooth down her back. Her skin was quite a few shades darker than her own, the color of bronze, rich and nearly russet. The dress the woman was wearing was a few shades lighter, more of a caramel color. Mira caught a hint of fringe along the bottom hem of the skirt.

In the process of her inspection, she didn't realize she was being watched until her eyes locked with the woman's.

"Um… hello?" Mira ventured awkwardly.

Before she could say anything else, the woman was on her feet in a flash and threw something quick and sharp directly at her head.

Feeling the magic well up inside of her, Mira gasped and froze it just in time it reached its mark. The tip just grazed the skin between her eyes. If she hadn't been able to do that, she would've been dead that much was certain.

Shakily, Mira reached up and took the weapon in her hands. She turned it over and noticed it was some sort of rock, possibly flint, sharpened into a spearhead. It was much bigger than the average arrowhead. With its size, it looked more like a dagger than anything else.

She only looked up when she heard the woman make a noise.

"What are you?" she demanded, looking at her with distrust in her eyes.

Her voice was much too loud, and she really didn't want them to get caught so she brought up her finger to her lips. The woman continued to look at her though with more confusion rather than fear, which was always good. Mira was used to people looking at her with confusion.

"I just want to talk," she said, holding up her hands.

Huffing, the woman remarked rather sharply, though her voice was much lower than before, "Like keeping me in here is going to make me talk."

Mira nodded, acquiescing to that statement. "Okay, point. But I really do want to talk." She took another glance at the weapon in her hand before adding, "Preferably without you throwing some more sharp objects at my face."

Shoving the thing into her pocket, she stepped forward, glancing in the direction of Emma's office to make sure the coast was clear then took another step. "Do you have any other of these things on you?"

Cautiously, the woman shook her head. Mira found it safer to continue.

"I'm Mira," she introduced herself. "And I have magic."

It was stupid, but she did want to get to know the woman better. Having all the cards on the table was probably for the best.

Gazing at her dubiously, the woman took a step forward in the cell, her hands twitching at her sides. "You practice magic?"

Mira shook her head. "No. I was born with it."

The words were vague and so was the meaning behind them, but they appeared to be accepted at face value anyway. She paused, contemplating before replying, "My name is Pocahontas."

Mira's jaw dropped. "Get out."

Quirking a brow, Pocahontas gestured to the bars. "Clearly, I cannot."

Scrutinizing her more closely, there was a turquoise shell necklace around her neck with a white diamond shaped stone pendant lying right above her heart. There was the tribe symbol on her left arm, red and striking against her skin. Everything about her screamed she was telling the truth. Mira couldn't help but being stunned.

"No, I meant… never mind." Shaking her head, Mira walked closer so that she was now only a few feet away from the cell. "I'm curious. How did you get here? I definitely would've remembered seeing you here before."

Hesitating, Pocahontas shifted on her feet, which were covered in a pair of dark leather sandals where the straps wrapped intricately around her ankles. She wasn't sure if she could trust her, and Mira understood the feeling so well she didn't push. Instead, she waited until the Native American princess replied, "I was… looking for someone, and I found myself here. I didn't realize at the time when I was in the forest until I made it past the clearing and into this strange village."

Hazel eyes locked with blue. "I had no intention of coming here, nor do I have any intention of staying. I just want to find the person I'm looking for and return home. Being imprisoned here is only slowing me down."

Mira let out a sharp breath, feeling as if she had been punched in the gut. That… was exactly how she felt. Maybe not being literally imprisoned, but the rest was certainly true. She never meant to come to Storybrooke, neither of them, but there they were, conversing with a set of bars between them, both literal and figurative.

"I understand," she replied quietly. "I'm trapped here, too."

Tilting her head to the side, Pocahontas squinted. "How are _you_ trapped?"

The brunette remarked, "I never intended on coming here either. I fell through some sort of portal and wound up here. I'm looking for people, too, my family. I haven't seen them in weeks."

Eyes widening in understanding, the woman was slowly letting her guard down as she found whatever was in her expression for her to be true. She slipped her hands up the bars between them, saying softly, "I haven't seen John in a few days. I'm worried."

"John? As in John Smith?" Mira asked, dumbfounded.

She hadn't realized how close she had gotten when Pocahontas's fingers wrapped around her wrists eagerly. "Have you seen him? Heard from him?"

Still surprised by her warm fingers on her skin, Mira shook her head. "No, I haven't, but I have heard of him." Seeing the hope deflate from her, she blurted out, "I can help you find him."

"Can you?" the woman demanded.

"I will," Mira corrected herself. She was just about to add something else when she heard a door being opened. Shit. Quickly, she turned towards Pocahontas and said, "I'll come back for you. Hopefully tonight if no one's here. This has to remain between us, especially what I told you about me."

Nodding in agreement, Pocahontas said, "You have my word if I have yours."

"Absolutely," Mira promised. She backed away as soon as she was released from her grip. "If I'm not here by midnight, I got delayed."

Before she turned to go, she remembered the spearhead in her pocket. She pulled it out and handed it back to her. "Try not to use it unless you absolutely must."

She didn't wait for an answer. Turning on her heel, she quickly rushed back to her place in the hall, almost out of breath as her heart thundered in her chest. There was hope. Maybe she could find her way home after all.

* * *

><p><strong>Shay Mitchell is fancasted as Pocahontas. She's gorgeous and perfect!<strong>

**I hope you guys liked this chapter. Let me know what you think. Again, thank you so much for the favorites, reviews, and follows! It means the world to me :)**


End file.
